Yours, Mine, Ours Outtakes
by ChrissiHR
Summary: YMO is going in the shop for a prequel/sequel overhaul instead of finishing it as is. All of the existing chapters that will be affected by the changes will be moved to this collection of outtakes for readers who want to continue to enjoy them. I am also including the original Hazel intro that I wrote even though it's a bit of a non-sequitur now. Thanks for your patience with me.
1. Ch 15-Outtake-Jake's Mate, Hazel

**Just tidying things up as I make some big changes in the direction of YMO. YMO is going in the shop for an overhaul/prequel instead. All of the chapters that will be affected by the changes will be moved to this collection of outtakes for readers who want to continue to enjoy them. I will also add the original Hazel intro that I wrote even though it's a bit of a non-sequitur now. **

* * *

**A/N:** **_THIS IS AN OUTTAKE. And it's a long-as-fuck A/N, but if you're a fan of YMO, you'll want to read the whole thing so you know what's going on. The reward is the original Hazel chapter below!_**

_It is NOT a direct follow-up to the previous chapter, which is why it is only being posted here in my collection of YMO outtakes. This was written months before the previous six or seven chapters when I was trying to figure out just who Hazel might be to Bella, Seth, and Jacob in this story. I considered it a study of Hazel that was never intended to see the light of day in this form._

_Consider that I'm publishing this at all my apology to all of you for pulling big sections of YMO in order to turn them into a Seth/Bella prequel and a Jake/OC sequel eventually. The YMO plotline is officially going in the shop for a makeover. I know that news will disappoint some of you, but I've learned a lot about writing fan fic since I posted YMO as a one-shot last year and this needs to happen. I considered it complete as a two-shot originally and, as a newbie writer, I allowed reader feedback to convince me to keep writing follow-ups when I should have gone back to the beginning and written the prequel to show how Seth and Bella came to that point in the story. _

_THAT will be the future of YMO. A Seth/Bella prequel that I'm thinking about naming "Becoming Yours" based on Chapter 4 of YMO: Gather Ye Rosebuds. It's my favorite chapter in the YMO-verse and I feel like it deserves to be written, but also will prevent a lot of backpedaling when I'm really ready to write the Jake/Hazel sequel to YMO eventually. So, YMO is going to be tidied up and marked complete as a two-shot. "Becoming Yours" will most likely be written as a short story of maybe 12 - 14 chapters eventually. Other more complete projects will be finished first, then Seth and Bella will get my full attention._

_Apologies in advance for butchering the beauty of the Hawaiian language. This is fiction. I mean no disrespect, but it's not an easy language for which to get a direct translation. Even with a brother-in-law living on Maui who feeds me tidbits, some of this was pulled from online translators, some from old Hawaii Five-O episodes, and plenty from Hawaiian movies like Blue Hawaii and Lilo & Stitch. Seriously, it's fiction. Forgive and forget._

No beta, no pre-reader. Mistakes are mine. Errors are mine. Hazel is mine. Giggety!

Sadly, Twilight is not mine.

* * *

**Seth POV**

We still gathered at Sam and Emily's house occasionally for a meal some weekends. Bella and I sat on the edge of the porch that Sunday afternoon, talking to Quil and Jake while Leah patrolled and the rest of the pack played a rough game of soccer in the yard. The imprints were sitting out of the game on the porch swing, chatting in their own little world.

We turned as one to the sound of an unfamiliar vehicle approaching. Bella paid it no mind. She was accustomed to the pack perking their ears over sounds that could mean nothing to anyone but us. She continued to read her book, head resting on my shoulder as I played with a bouncy brown curl. The vehicle wasn't just a passerby, however. That became obvious when the red open-top Jeep with the toy-hauler full of surf boards and kayaks pulled into Sam's driveway.

The Jeep's occupant emerged cautiously under the intense scrutiny of the entire pack.

She was short, nearly as short as Bella at about five-foot-five; she was built compact and curvy, with dark brown, almost black hair with a few amber highlights from time spent in the sun, if I had to guess. She wore a neon pink silk flower in her hair despite the day's cold drizzle. Her skin was a burnished coppery caramel. She had large, exotic, almond-shaped eyes, wide, full, red lips; a true Polynesian beauty if ever there was one. No one would ever dare to call her plain or ordinary.

She hopped out, full of bubbly enthusiasm and started up the drive. She had a strong Hawaiian accent when she spoke, "Hi! Excuse the interruption, but a gentleman named Billy Black sent me over. I was told I could find Bella Swan here."

Bella turned at the sound of her name, eyes going wide, mouth working soundlessly. My girl was speechless.

She finally managed to whisper, "Kiha- Kihawahine?" Then louder - a war whoop, "WAHINE!" - as she planted her hand on the deckrail and, tucking her legs up and together, swung them over the railing to the side in a graceful leap. She hit the ground running, barreling down the driveway into the arms of the exotic beauty, bowling her over with her enthusiastic greeting.

The newcomer shouted in return from the new position on her back sprawled out on the ground, "Pele! Aloha to you, too, lolo!"

They tackled each other in a violent hug, Bella pulling back just long enough to give her a big, smacking kiss on the lips.

Her friend snorted and yelled at the sky as Bella slobbered kisses all over her face, her Hawaiian accent thickening, "You horny ka wahine ʻai honuk, I tol' you, no tongue! I don't French kiss on the first date!"

Bella threw her head back and laughed. Her friend rolled Bella onto her back, pinning her to the ground with her hips as she sat up, straddling her. She threw her arms in the air and claimed victory, "Still the undefeated champ!"

Bella hollered back, "Because you cheat, **eyeball-licker**! And you weigh like five yards of wet concrete. Now quit dry-humping me and get off, you **koholaholoholona**!"

She gasped in mock outrage, "You kiss your mother with that mouth, li'ili'i wahine?" She kissed her again and, instead of getting up, sat back on her heels, and laughed, "You spend too much time talking to my Nui, eh? He teaches you bad words!"

I saw Paul adjust his junk in his shorts out of the corner of my eye. I growled. He threw his hands up in surrender, "Just lookin', dude. That's hot."

The girl kissing my girl pulled back and started babbling in what sounded like more Hawaiian, "Li'ili'i wahine, haʻo wau ia 'oe . . ."

Bella was babbling back at the same, time, **"'Oau pu, **`Eleu, pela no**laule'a 'oe eia nei . . ."**

They were obviously very close, old friends. I'd never seen Bella so free-spirited and open with anyone other than me and my wolf. I'd never seen her act so much her age either, so much like a normal girl. If her friend brought out this side of her, she was more than welcome to stick around and keep doing it for as long as she wanted.

The girls were still babbling in a complex mix of English and more Hawaiian.

I had no idea Bells could even speak Hawaiian. I knew she was working on learning some Quileute...

I cleared my throat, "Um, Bells?"

The chatter stopped. They turned to look at the rest of us, only now realizing they weren't alone. Bella blinked, coming back to her senses, then blushed. _There's _my girl.

"Sorry, sorry, let me get my breath back," she thumped her chest. "This is Hazel `Eleu Blackfish. We went to UDub together. She was my roommate my freshman year."

Hazel jumped in, "Also her best friend from summer camp when were eleven years old, partner in pledge-week-crime, lab partner, field study and hiking buddy, and Sorority Week tag team mud wrestling co-champion." Her cheeks dimpled and she winked when she said the last, knowing Bella would have kept that to herself.

"_Mud wrestling?_" - the entire pack.

"It was for a good cause!" Bella exclaimed crossing her arms indignantly at the incredulity in our voices. "We were raising money for an animal shelter in Seattle that also provides care and relocation services for severely-injured and disabled endangered and threatened species _like timber wolves_," she said meaningfully.

She turned back to Hazel, "The Quileute revere wolves. I don't owe them any explanations. They should have been there wrestling with us."

Quil just couldn't fucking stop his mouth, "I'd have paid to see that."

Some of my brothers nodded, replying under their breath, "Me, too."

I was growling again.

"So ... you going to introduce me to your steroid cult, Pele?" Hazel asked.

"Oh! Steroid . . . Ha! Yes, okay, um . . . " Bella stood, looking around, trying to decide where to start, but there really was no other way to do this than by rank. Jacob would need to scent newcomers before they got anywhere near the rest of his pack. If Bella hadn't been so enthusiastic about her friend's arrival, he'd never have let her greet Hazel without intervening. It was a rare exception to Pack rule and Bella knew it.

Bella brushed off her butt, standing and offering a hand to her petite friend to haul her up from the ground. She turned to meet my eyes and dipped her head in a little nod of acknowledgment to me that she knew she had to start with our Alpha, "Well, since you've already met Billy, the tribe's Chief, we I begin with introducing you to his son, the future chief and my oldest friend, Jacob Ephraim Black. Jacob, this is Hazel `Eleu Makaha Kame Blackfish."

The introduction sounded unusually formal the way Bella had used all of their given names.

Jacob stepped forward slowly to avoid spooking Hazel with his overwhelming size and shook her hand, stopping for a second to look down at it like he was surprised.

"You're so warm," he breathed in awe, but instead of giving her hand a firm, friendly shake and scenting her from a more socially-acceptable human distance, he brought her hand to his mouth and brushed his lips over her knuckles, drawing the scent of her skin in over his tongue as well, scenting her like Pack.

She began babbling, "Yeah, it's a tribal thing."

We laughed.

We were telling people that all time for our own reasons.

"Just Hazel or `Eleu is fine. Technically, those are all acceptable identifying names and titles, but Pele only introduces me that way because my brother, Nui, gets angry when he hears mainlanders drop my tribal titles and he loves Pele like one of our own so he taught her the formal tribal introduction used when ... " she trailed off, losing her head of steam as she smiled dreamily at our Alpha, "Hi, I'm Hazel . . . and you're Jake. You're _huge_." Her eyes widened in undisguised appreciation.

Bella snorted and it broke the tension. The rest of us started chuckling quietly, too, at the looks passing between Jake and Hazel.

Bella smiled at me and I raised my eyebrows in concern, mouthing my question, "Imprint?"

She shook her head and mouthed back, "No, his mate."

She tapped the side of her nose. Ohh... It was a reminder - that she began to smell like Pack before the marking.

Hazel _did_ have a whiff of Pack scent to her, and something else, something I couldn't quite put my finger on, something intangible and ineffable. She smelled like sunshine and ocean and coconut sun tanning oil. It made her smell almost as good as my Bella.

Hazel shook herself, breaking eye contact with Jake finally and blushing, "Sorry! Where are my manners?"

"No worries, honey," Bella assured her. "Ready to meet everyone else?"

"Oh! Goodness, yes. Sorry. I'm monopolizing your friend," she let go of Jake's hand and wiped suddenly sweaty palms on her jeans. "It's nice to meet you, Jake. Bella never told me ... Well, if I'd had any idea, I'd have come to visit sooner ... "

Bella cleared her throat, raising her eyebrows at Hazel in a gentle reminder that she was still speaking out loud.

Hazel flushed crimson.

Bella turned to gesture to me, but Hazel interrupted, dragging herself away from Jake's side to hold her hand out to me to shake, her face lighting up with a smile of recognition, "And you must be Bella's Seth. She's told me all about you, but her description hardly did you justice. She said you were her very best friend back home and only turning eighteen this semester, but that can't be right. Look at you! Jeez, what's in the water around here? I thought we only made guys this big on my island? You guys would fit right in with my brothers."

Bella laughed.

"They really would! Bella, you should have seen Nui when he was fourteen. He could barely squeeze through doorways."

"Oh, I can imagine. I've seen Nui try to drive a car and fly a Cessna," Bella assured her, then swept her hand down my arm from shoulder to wrist. "So, Seth, this is Hazel."

"Nice to meet you, Hazel. She's told me all about you. Not that you were coming, though! Are you here to visit? Can you stay for a few days? Or for lunch? It'd be nice to see the last few years of Bella's life through your eyes. She clams up when she comes home from school."

"I'm actually moving to Forks, so this is a temp-to-perm stay while I look for an apartment, but we could start with lunch," Hazel said, her eyes twinkling, waiting on Bella's reaction.

"YOU'RE MOVING TO FORKS?!" Bella moved to hug Hazel again, but I restrained her gently with a hand on her arm. We'd never get anywhere if the two of them kept tackling each other all afternoon.

Hazel nodded, "I applied at that link you sent me and did all the interviews and practicals while I was in Seattle. Our start date is the same and we're working out of the same office. I put in a request to be your partner after shake-down."

"Oh, my goodness! That's awesome! Wait, where are you staying?" Bella asked.

"Um, I was just going to find a campground and pitch my tent for a few days while I look for a place. I thought about a hotel, but I like camping and it'll only be for a few days. I thought about asking if I could camp on the beach here on the rez . . . "

"Hazel, it rains here like 345 days a year. You'll drown in the forest or on the beach."

I spoke up, "We have a spare room. You could stay with us if you wanted."

Hazel nodded, "That would be great, if you don't mind. It would give us more time to catch up."

Bella waved her hands in a halting motion, "Wait, wait, we're doing this all backwards and skipping steps. We have to finish introductions first." She motioned to the others, "Hazel, these are Seth's brothers - _friends_, who are _like_ brothers; Sam, and his fiancé Emily, Jared, and his girlfriend Kim, Paul, Jake's best friends; Embry and Quil, the two youngest; Brady and Colin, and this is Seth's actual sister, Leah."

Hazel waved. "Hi everyone. Sorry, I'm not usually such a chatty mess. Four hours on the road by myself coupled with two months without Bella for the first time in more than two years and my brain just turned to mush having to think all those thoughts without letting them out for so long."

Emily laughed, "It's okay. We understand. Can you stay for lunch?"

"If I'm not imposing, I'd love to," she smiled.

"No imposition. You can't imagine the way these boys go through food. We always make plenty," Emily laughed.

Bella laughed harder, "You haven't seen Hazel eat! She'll put Jake and Paul both to shame."

Hazel retorted hotly, "I burn a lot of calories! You can't surf and hike and free-dive all day and live on rabbit food!"

That caught Jake's attention, "You surf?"

"Professionally for a while, just enough to put myself through school. I surfed and did some sportswear modeling during school breaks to offset the cost of attending college on the mainland," she explained. "My brother Nui and I taught Pele - excuse me - Bella, too."

Jake turned wide eyes on Bella, "You surf now? Is that why you hardly ever came home during school breaks?"

"I came home! I just didn't always have time to come out to the rez. I'd spend time with Seth in town when I could, put in my hours with Old Quil to fulfill my work requirements, then take off with Hazel for her next surfing competition. Her sponsors always paid for her ticket and a companion ticket and her brothers' tribal obligations usually kept them from traveling to the other competitions that weren't held in the islands. They insisted I go with her. Hell, Nui even bankrolled our trips a few times as a surprise for good grades."

"It worked out great because sometimes my agent would need a second model and Pele was th-"

"`Eleu!" Bella interrupted, flushing.

"They don't know? _Nine teenage and twenty-something guys_ missed that? No way!"

My brothers and I looked at each other confused.

"Missed what?" Paul asked suspiciously.

"Pele and I did a big shoot after the Billabong Pro in Tahiti last spring; two of them, actually," she said, walking back to her Jeep. She leaned into the passenger side and pulled out a large black portfolio, flipping it open.

Bella started protesting immediately.

Hazel held it up anyway and showed us, "I got the cover of this one, but, look," she flipped to a pre-marked page. "Pele and I got the centerfold that issue. My brothers were so happy for us, they held a party to celebrate when we came home."

She held the magazine up and rocked our world.

That was _my_ Bella, but unlike I'd ever seen her before. She had wild sex hair that glistened with honey and auburn highlights in the setting sun, a golden, glowing tan, sultry eyes lined in black and shimmering gold, and she wore the tiniest green and gold print bikini I'd ever seen. Around her neck were about a dozen wood beaded necklaces, but nestled among them was the leather cord and charm that I carved for her with Jake's help for her 20th birthday. It was a medallion that looked like the pack tattoo of a pair of howling wolves.

In the photo, Bella was standing in an open doorway, turned slightly towards Hazel and had an arm slung low around her back, hand on the opposite hip, pinching the waistband of her swimsuit bottoms.

Hazel, who looked every bit as hot as my mate in a cranberry red halter-style suit with low-slung bottoms, had streaks of sun-kissed honey blond highlights in her hair and a large, tropical coral-colored flower over one ear. She had an arm wrapped around Bella's waist, too, and tucked the fingers of the other hand into the waistband of Bella's bikini bottoms at the hip closest to hers.

Legs were dusted with fine grains of sand, they looked like they'd been rolling around on the beach. Their heads were inclined towards one another, but their smoky, sultry eyes were for the camera.

They looked like sex on the beach personified.

We stared, jaws slack in wide wonder.

Hazel laughed, "Seriously, do you guys not get Sports Illustrated here?"

"We do!" Paul assured her, finally finding his voice. "We do. It's just ... um ... I don't think any of us looked at the centerfold and recognized it as _Bella_. I mean, it's obvious now with the two of you standing here together, but . . . holy shit, Swan."

I grunted. I knew she'd done some sports modeling with Hazel. I thought it was for a surfing catalog or something, though. In wet suits and rash guards and board shorts that covered her from her neck to her knees.

Not this.

Why wouldn't Bella tell me?

Bella laid her hand on my arm, "Are you mad?"

"Mad?" I was shocked, "No! No, babe, of course not. Surprised. Shocked, really. Why didn't you tell us?"

She looked up from under her lashes at Jake, Embry, Quil, and Paul and everything clicked into place. She knew what a big deal the centerfold was and was still a little nervous about flaunting her body in front of the pack. Not to mention - she didn't want to have to fend off even more unwanted attention from my brothers.

"Babe, it's fine. We'd have been nothing but proud and supportive of you and Hazel." I kissed her temple and she sunk into my embrace. I looked back up at Hazel to try to deflect some of the attention from Bella for the time being, "How did you do in that surfing competition?"

"Eh, second. I wiped out in the third round. It's hard to come back from that when the top-scorers are so high. In the end, Pele and I made more from the photo shoot than I won in the Pro. Paid off our spring break trip and a good chunk of the semester's tuition for us both. Then we got the offer from Maxim when we made the trip home to Maui to visit my brothers at the end of our break."

"Hazel ... " Bella warned.

"What? Like they're not going to go back through every magazine they own and look for all the other shoots we did?" Hazel rolled her eyes. "I have brothers, Pele. I know they hang onto those magazines."

Embry squeaked, "You did a shoot for Maxim?"

Hazel was about to answer when Paul interrupted, glaring in mock accusation at Bella, "It's like ... we don't even _know_ you, Swan."

Bella rolled her eyes, motioning to Hazel to answer Embry.

She cleared her throat, "Yeah, they did a cover story about the sex appeal of the new generation of female athletes, specifically surfers," she answered, pulling out another magazine, the Maxim edition, I assumed. "They wanted a pro and a skilled recreational surfer so they could do action shots, too. My brother consults for Maxim sometimes because he owns one of the largest surf shops and instruction schools in the islands. He suggested they talk to my agent while we were home and try to set something up. Pele and I both got that cover."

She held it up for us and there was no denying that that was our Bells with Hazel on the cover. They lay on the beach, propped up on their elbows, obviously topless with their breasts pillowed in the black volcanic sand, leaning into one another. Behind their heads were the unmistakable curves of their barely-bikini-clad bottoms; Bella in teeny, tiny metallic gold bikini bottoms that rode high and hardly covered anything and Hazel in a deep plum purple that sat low, hugging her lush hips at the widest point.

Their feet were kicked up in the air casually and tangled together as they gave the camera that same sultry, penetrating stare. Hazel's tongue peeked out, licking her top lip, and Bella's mouth was slightly open like she was waiting for an open-mouth kiss.

Jake broke the silence this time when he whispered hoarsely, "I need a drink."

Murmurs of agreement echoed his sentiments from across the yard and porch.

Bella, eyes on her toes, took Hazel by the arm, "Come on. If we're done embarrassing me for now, you can have lunch with us, then we'll take you over to our place to get you settled."

"Bella, is everything okay?" she asked as Bella towed her up the path to the porch.

"It's fine. They're going to need a minute. They never see me in anything but jeans and flannel or my BDUs. They still haven't adjusted to the BDUs."

"Heh. Wait 'til they see us _both_ in uniform," Hazel snickered.

Jake groaned.

I smiled. My day was looking up. My hot mate in uniform by day also turned out to secretly be a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model and centerfold and a Maxim cover girl.

Another thought stopped me in my tracks.

I wondered if Charlie knew.

Then something else occurred to me. "Hey, Hazel!" I called out. "Why do you call Bella 'Pele'?"

She laughed, "Ha! Because she's a fire goddess! Do you know how many vampires she's burned? God, she's like fucking catnip or something for vamps, I swear! Ask me sometime why my brothers call her 'Bait'."

She lobbed that grenade over her shoulder and continued inside, giggling with Bella.

**Next chapter**

Outside, we stood, looking at each other in stunned disbelief. Hazel knew about vampires. Because she and Bella had run into vampires? Alone? Unprotected?

"She's hot," Jake murmured.

"Yeah, no shit, Sherlock. Were you fucking listening? Her friend knows about vamps," Paul hissed.

"No, I mean she's HOT. Like us. She didn't feel cool to the touch. She smells like Pack, but not our pack," Jake looked at the door the girls had passed through only moments earlier, his brows drawn together in concentration.

* * *

**Endnote:** Want the PDF of YMO before I scaled it back to only two chapters? Send me a PM or contact me on fb or in the Tricky Raven chatroom to get your copy. My pre-reader and pal meliz875 was kind enough to download it for me to share with all of you.

Hazel `Eleu (Alert, Lively, Energetic, Spry, Nimble, Agile) Makaha (Fierce, Ferocious, Savage) Kame (short for 'Kamehameha').

names_

. ?sub=Wao+Lani&treasure=555&offset=0

_Ka wahine ʻai honua_ ("the earth-eating woman") is an epithet for the goddess.


	2. Ch 3 - Bella's Fury

**A/N: **I originally planned to include both conflicts in this chap, the one with Embry and the one with Jake and the pack, but this felt like a more natural place to stop, so you get two slightly shorter chapters of conflict instead of one really long one. Well, you'll get the other next week. It's still a work in progress.

**Pre-readers: SuperGirl-Gem and madmamabear, you ladies rock my toesocks!**

**Extra special thanks to madmamabear for doing a spot of pre-reading here and there and letting me bounce ideas off of her all weekend. You rock, Bobbeh! **

**Beta: No beta. All errors are mine, all mine!**

**Provider of epithet(s), henceforth known as my Epitheteer: One of my oldest friends (like from kindergarten, oldest friends) Johnnyhandro, comes up with THE BEST EPITHETS when he's angry. I went straight to the source for several of them in this chap. Nobody swears like my boy, Johnnyhandro. Some are mine, but the really colorful ones are all him. Love you, honey!**

**Rating: MA, but not much smut this time, kiddies. Violence and strong language. You've been warned!**

**Disclaimer:** SM owns. I don't own anything but a 15 year old Ford Explorer that has seen better days, a 9 year old flatulent bulldog who sees me as the other woman in her relationship with my husband, and a 14 year old half-bald cat that has also seen better days. The dog has, too, come to think of it.

✫.¸¸ . ✶*¨*. ¸ .✫*¨*.¸¸.✶*¨'*✫

**Chapter 3**

**Seth POV**

Bella yelped, startling violently when she heard me hiss Embry's name and loose a vicious growl at the one stupid enough to disturb this time with my mate, the echoes of my displeasure thundering through the encompassing forest.

Bells bolted upright, clutching the sheet around her middle as she turned to glare at Embry over her shoulder, "Jesus Christ on a crutch, Embry! Why don't you take a fucking picture? It'll last longer, you sick, peeping tom, filthy fucking cock knocker!" Bella spewed forth a shocking litany of disgusted outrage, narrowing her eyes to slits as she wrapped the thin, white sheet around her body, rising lithely to her feet to face him, "Did Jacob send you? I'll kill that interfering mongrel motherfucker with my bare hands if this is his twisted idea of looking out for me!"

"Bella?" Embry squeaked incredulously, eyes going wide. I could see my brother blanch in the face of Bella's stunning rage. I'd never seen her so angry before. I mean, I'd heard her swear, but never quite so volubly or ripely as she had today. Maybe she'd gotten some of the wolf's aggression from the marking, too.

Spending so much time with the pack over the last three years had certainly made her vocabulary more colorful.

She leapt gracefully to the ground, barefoot, clutching the sheet between her breasts. Haloed by the wild mahogany mane of her tousled curls, she looked like an avenging warrior goddess stalking furiously across the clearing when Embry tried to slink away.

"COME OUT HERE AND FACE THE MUSIC, ASSHOLE!" she bellowed.

I started to rise to help, but the older, wiser voice of my spirit wolf spoke up in reminder, _It is not for us to do for our mate when she can do for herself. She is mate, equal, partner. Not pup, not imprint. Our mate can handle herself. Let her put our brother in his place. He was wrong. It is her right, __**her **__place, to chastise the pup._ _This is how he will learn to respect a marked mate and her wolf._

I took a few resetting breaths first, jumping down to the ground by her side. I leaned back to give the appearance that I was at ease, hands gripping the edge of the dropped tailgate, to keep an eye on my mate while she meted out Embry's punishment. I didn't bother to pull my shorts back on. I had nothing to hide from my brother or my mate.

"How dare you?!" Bella raged, her face purpling as he emerged from the tree line.

He held a hand out to me in entreaty, "Seth, I was only following ord-"

"Don't you fucking dare, Embry Call," she stuck an angry finger in his face. "Don't you dare try to go over my head to Seth to try to reason with him like I'm some child the adults are talking over, you overgrown Chihuahua! How dare you?! Even if you needed to speak to Seth, you could have kept your distance and howled or just yelled without spying on us like some second rate, has-been, horror flick stalker! What the fuck did you think you were do-"

Embry yelled to me over her head again, "Seth, come on, man! You know I can't go against orders when Ja-"

That was as far as he got, though, before Bella's fist connected with his jaw.

She was unfazed. Didn't flex her hand or utter so much as an 'ouch'. Seems my ferocious little mate _did_ get a few bonuses from the marking.

"What _the fuck_ did I just say?" Bella demanded, fuming, fists clenched, standing over Embry's prone form.

"Wha . . . wha jus- Wha happen, Sef?" Embry slurred, flat out on his back, knocked on his ass in the dirt by a girl half his size.

She kicked him for good measure. Pretty sure I heard a rib crack.

He moaned.

That's my girl. I almost felt bad for Embry.

Almost.

My wolf preened, revealing more to me about the position Bella now held within the Pack hierarchy, _She is strong, a fierce fighter. This is good for our Pack, good for our tribe. She'll make even fiercer pups one day. We are fortunate to be so blessed with our mate. Our brother was disrespectful to her. Marked mates are sacred. Even Alphas often defer to the wisdom of marked mates. Mates are chosen for their skill, their strategy, their potential contributions to the Pack. We wolves are drawn to them for this reason. We recognize these traits in potential mates. Bella is gifted. She has many traits from which the Pack will benefit. They will be revealed in time. Some will be revealed now. Our brother will not soon forget this lesson. She should bite him for good measure._

I growled at my wolf, bristling at the thought of my mate biting anyone but me.

The wolf assured me he meant no harm, _Just a nip to chastise, not a mating mark. The only wolf our mate will mark is us. She should mark us soon. She would have already if our brother hadn't interrupted. Perhaps _**we**_ should chastise him as well._

I laughed. Seemed my spirit wolf was a little more eager than he let on to get our licks in while we could.

The wolf had one more revelation for me, _Order our brother to rise and face our mate. Order him to show her the respect accorded to her new position in the Pack._

I was confused, _Order him? I don't outrank him._

The wolf bristled in response this time, snarling, **_We do now._**_ You are the first in your generation to mark a mate. Usually this is done by an Alpha, but sometimes it is not. When this happens, the marking wolf rises to second in the Pack. You call it Beta. Our mate is now the highest ranked female in the Pack until the Alpha marks a mate. Order our brother to respect our mate. __**Now.**_

I called on the wolf spirit to help me find the Beta timbre that he claimed was now mine, "**Embry Call, you will rise. Bella is my marked mate. You will show her the respect her position deserves. NOW!**"

In a morbid display of mindless, magical obedience, Embry's muscles slithered over bone, tendons stretching, limbs flexing as he jerked and moved into a standing position like a marionette with conflicting puppeteers, elbows and knees akimbo, limbs flailing, yanked about by the strings of his enslavement to the wolf gene. It was horrible to behold and fascinating all at once.

Bella never wavered, never faltered.

She stood firm, waiting patiently for Embry to rise to his feet, to gain his bearings.

He looked up into her eyes and sniffed and, with a choking gasp, immediately dropped to one knee in obeisance, waiting for her to speak to him again.

Embry kept his eyes trained on the ground, watching, fascinated as Bella's bare, candy pink-polished toes tapped impatiently.

Finally, she got tired of waiting for him to give her his attention again, "Embry?"

She wasn't aware, though, of his newly-discovered compulsion to yield to her as the highest-ranking female in the pack.

I explained, "You have his undivided attention, babe. He won't look you in the eye again without express permission. You outrank him."

She whipped around, her eyes finding mine, searching for answers.

I continued, "The wolf told me. When I marked you, our standing within the Pack hierarchy changed. You and I both outrank him. You are a marked mate, sacrosanct, as far as the Pack is concerned. Marked mates are inviolate within the Pack hierarchy. You understand?"

She worried her lip between her teeth, glancing down at Embry briefly and back at me. She nodded thoughtfully, turning over this new information in her head.

"He's waiting for you to decide his fate, babe. He disrespected you and your position. It's your right to reprimand him so it never happens again. Not that I think it will now that he knows you can wipe the floor with him," I snorted.

Her eyes rounded in realization, "Oh my god! I punched him! I- I kicked him!"

"Yeah, broke a rib, too, I think. He deserved it. Wolf pack discipline, babe. It's the mark. You're behaving more instinctually now. It's going to be happening more often rather than less. You better get used to it, honey."

"Like the way you guys are always pounding on each other?"

"Structured pounding that looks to others like teenage boys or puppies playing, but yes. It all serves a purpose. Rank, order, discipline."

Her hands fluttered, distressed and a little unsure, "Embry, I'm so sor-"

Time to teach my girl how to be the big bad wolf, "Don't apologize to him. He doesn't deserve it. He saw you naked, watched you during your most vulnerable and intimate moments with your chosen mate. As far as Pack is concerned, you are my wife. He watched that."

She sighed, then laid a hand gently on his shoulder, "You can stand, Emb."

He rose to his feet, but kept his eyes respectfully lowered and his mouth shut. He _was_ learning.

"Embry?" she tried to look in his eyes, but he kept them stubbornly riveted on the ground. She sighed, "You can speak to me now, Emb."

He chanced a glance up at me first, asking for tacit permission before addressing my mate directly. My wolf chuffed happily at his correct display of respect for our mate.

"I'm so sorry, Bella. I have no excuse. You were just _so damn beautiful_ and it was such a shock to see you . . . with Seth. Jake _did_ send me to find Seth, _not_ to check up on you. The fault is mine. It won't happen again, I swear," he assured her.

"Why is Jake so desperate to find Seth that he would send you all the way out here?"

"Seth missed a Pack meeting."

"He missed a Pack dinner, not a Pack meeting. If Jake intended for everyone to be there, he should have made it clear it was a meeting and not an informal gathering for a meal. Seth assured me he would not be missed from a single meal with the Pack," Bella reasoned. She tucked the end of the sheet into itself between her breasts, smoothing the sheet demurely as she spoke.

"He . . . he was pretty upset that you skipped out, too. I think he was going to take it out on us," Embry explained, fidgeting. He glanced up at me apologetically.

"He's punishing his Pack for _my _actions?" she seethed, clenching her fists again. Jake was in deep shit if the redness of her face was any indication of her inner rage. Jake was fucked.

Embry looked startled. He looked to me again for help, but I had nothing to offer. I was pretty pissed at Jake, too. His hissy fit interrupted our little marking bacchanal.

It would seem Bella and I had a bit more lupine wisdom to dish out before the day was done.

"Seth and I need to dress. We'll need some privacy. Is there somewhere near here that you can wait for us to join you when we're ready, Embry?"

He nodded, melting back into the trees. I heard his footsteps padding off towards the fire trail we'd used to drive to this little clearing.

Bella looked at me, despair written all over her face, her breath hitching, "What have we done, Seth?"

I wrapped my arms around her. My wolf came forth to soothe our mate as well, my chest rumbling in lupine affection, "There's no fault here, babe. This was meant. . . So says the wolf," I said fatalistically.

"Meant? Like destiny?"

"Maybe. It feels like this is the way it's supposed to happen, like we're suddenly ramping up to something big," I shrugged, burying my face in her neck, running my lips softly in soothing patterns over the twin crescent ridges of her mark, drawing in the reassuring scent of mate.

"What if I was wrong? About the marking, I mean? What if it throws the pack into chaos?"

"It won't."

"How can you know that?!" she shouted, exasperated, throwing her arms in the air.

"You've done your research. You wouldn't have taken this chance if you weren't certain of the results. Besides, the wolf is sure," I reminded her.

"I wish I had a wolf whispering useful secrets to me. All I get is these vague feelings and I have to figure out whether they're trustworthy or not," her frustration was palpable. It ramped up my wolf, set him on edge.

I had to settle her. I was struggling to hold back the phase. The wolf wanted _out_, he needed to reassure our mate.

"Don't start doubting yourself now. Do you regret letting me mark you?" I asked gently, smoothing my hands down the bare expanse of her back.

She lay her head on my chest, stroking her fingers in a soothing gesture over my heart, "No, of course not. I want to be yours."

"Then this is the price that is being asked of you. It takes a lot of faith, in yourself, in others. My wolf and I were drawn to you for a reason. Maybe it's one of the traits that makes you a good match for a wolf, a skill set that you have that other humans lack - good instincts, like a cop. _Officer Swan_," the corner of my lip twitched in amusement.

She smiled at that.

The sound of a wolf baying in the distance interrupted our little island of temporary calm.

I understood. We were taking too long for our Alpha. His howl was agitated with Embry, with me.

Embry would be too terrified to phase right now, but when the Alpha howls, you fucking phase, so one of us had to do it.

I called out, "I'll do it, Emb!"

His relieved sigh was audible to my human ears before he called back, "Thank you!"

Bella giggled.

Turning away from Bella and the truck, I looked into the trees to avoid giving away my location or my company.

I leaned forward and by the time I hit the ground with my paws, I'd phased. Easiest and most painless phase ever, in fact.

_Something wrong, boss?_

J: _What the fuck is going on, Seth? Where are you? Where is Embry?_

_I had a date. I was told the thing at Sam and Emily's was just dinner, not a Pack meeting. I didn't realize I was required to be there._

J: _Is Embry with you?_

_He's nearby._

J, suspiciously: _What does that mean, Seth? If he's nearby, why isn't he with you?_

_He interrupted. He's trying to be more discreet now so I don't hurt him._

J: _Interrupted what?_

Carefully screening her face from my thoughts, I showed him flashes of bare skin, our nest of blankets and pillows, the contrast of my hot caramel hands on her cool, pale pink skin. Nothing revealing, just enough to placate his curiosity so he wouldn't ask more questions I wasn't yet ready to answer.

J: _Why didn't he phase?_

I couldn't lie to my Alpha,___ He was afraid to._

J, more agitation bleeding into his thoughts: _What the fuck is going on, Seth? Why is he afraid to phase?_

He howled impatiently, a demand for Embry to phase in.

"Shit," Embry huffed from the woods. He was not pleased.

Neither was I.

He phased in. He did okay at first, blocking out the images of what he'd caught Bella and I in the middle of by just picturing puppies, but then he had a random thought and snickered at the idea of me flipping Bella over and doing her doggy-style in order to ensure that we had actual puppies.

That's when all hell broke loose.

✫.¸¸ . ✶*¨*. ¸ .✫*¨*.¸¸.✶*¨'*✫

Update: December 22, 2013:

I literally just found out that I'm nominated in the **Fanfic-n-tastic Awards Twilight Edition** for **Best Alternate Universe, Best Kiss, Hottest Lemon, **and** Most Alpha-Worthy Wolf!**

******Voting is NOW OPEN in the ****Fanfic-n-tastic Awards Twilight Edition**! If you haven't yet, please visit the Fanfic-n-tastic Awards Twilight Edition page and cast your votes for your favorite Twilight fics! The link can be found on my profile!******  
**


	3. Ch 4 - Gather Ye Rosebuds

**A/N:** You know how I said in my A/N at the beginning of chapter 3 that I split up the conflicts and you'd get one last week and one this week? Well . . . it turns out I'm a big fat liar. Seriously, pants aflame. Never trust a word I say, obviously, because along came L. Ozment in the comments last week whom begged me so prettily for some flashbacks and that sounded like a fine idea to me. This seemed like as good a place as any to drop some hints and back story in instead of jumping right into more nasty conflict right away. Ask and ye shall receive, L. Ozment. 8K words to wallow in the dating history of Seth and Bella through brief flashback snapshots. (Well, some are brief. Some are just me wallowing in smutty Sethy goodness.)

Will I write every suggestion that is made by readers? No, not necessarily, probably not even most of them, but your suggestions do inspire me to write and write more than I planned sometimes (this chap was only supposed to be about 3500 words!), so it's worth mentioning if you see the potential for something fun or shmexxy that you'd like to read. If I'd like to see it, too, I just might write it. _I've_ always wanted to see Bella deck a wolf without breaking her hand, so I wrote it. Jazz hands. Happy, happy, happy.

If timeline type stuff is important to you, I'll put this in perspective as best I can by saying that the upcoming bit with Seth babysitting Bella during a Victoria incursion is late in the summer after her highschool graduation and Victoria is still on the loose because the Cullens haven't come back and there are no newborns yet. Bella's almost 19. Seth's almost 16. We'll say it's somewhere around August 13th. Wink, wink.

**Pre-Readers: madmamabear and SuperGirl-Gem, and some extra special help from MP. You're the bomb-diggety. Thank you ladies!**

**Epitheteer: Johnnyhandro**

**Banner Made By Mist**

**Rating**: **MA, seriously, kiddies, step off. Strong language, violence, and rough shmexxin' are the order of the day, all the good stuff.**

**Disclaimer:** SM owns. Me, not a damn thing worth claiming, unlike Baby Clearwater who claims whatever the hell he damn well wants.

✫.¸¸ . ✶*¨*. ¸ .✫*¨*.¸¸.✶*¨'*✫

**Chapter 4 - Gather Ye Rosebuds**

**Seth POV (Present)**

Simultaneously-[ Me: _Embry!_

Simultaneously-[ Jacob: _WHAT THE FUCK, SETH?!_

Simultaneously-[ Embry: _Aw . . . Dammit!_

More minds phased in as the rest of the pack responded to Jake's savage howl, thinking a leech had breached the border. Embry scrambled, trying not to think of it _aaaand . . ._ inadvertently thinking about what he'd seen when he found Bella and I in the woods earlier anyway.

The wolf and I chuffed in frustration,_ Fuck me sideways. _

After a brief silence while they absorbed the enormity of what was happening, the pack mind exploded in a flurry of disbelief, anger, grudging respect, and, finally, Embry's remorse.

Sam: _Seth, how could you? There's a code!_

Leah: _Yeah, Sam? Tell us about the fucking bro code and how much it meant to you and Emily? Asshole._

Quil: _Dude . . . is that Bella? She's hot! I mean I knew she was hot, but how did I not know Bella was __**that**__ hot?_

Jared: _Fuck, Quil, she's your cousin, you ass clown._

Quil:_ She's _not_ my cousin._

Jared, sighing:_ Your grandmother's maiden name was Swan, dipshit._

Quil:_ Oh, yeah, but that's like second cousins twice removed or some shit. Like me and Jake are second cousins or something._

Paul: _You're not thinking about how hot Jake is, though, Quil. Unless . . . _

Quil:_ Go fuck _yourself_ for once, Lahote._

Brady and Collin: _Nice . . ._

Paul: _About time you got laid, pup!_

Leah: _What the fuck were you thinking, Seth? SWAN? Mom's dating Charlie! She's practically our step-sister!_

Embry: _Sorry, man._

Jacob:_**Shut up! Everybody but Seth needs to sit, stay, and shut the fuck up right the fuck now! **_

Wolf rumps all over Sam's backyard dropped to the ground, haunches shifting, distressed under the heavy weight of the order.

Jacob:_ You sneaky little fucker! I'll kill you! How long has this been going on?!_

I tried not to say anything, but the thick manacles of coercion to obey my Alpha wouldn't allow me to remain silent, _A little more than a year._

The pack remained silent, though, astonished sentinels standing witness to the drama unfolding in the pack mind.

Jacob, growling: More_ than a year?_ _How _much_ more?_

I fought it this time, my paws shifting uneasily, knowing the answer would hurt my brothers no matter how much Bella and I had tried to resist the draw to each other at first for their sakes.

Jacob, quieter now, but no less dangerous, slick, oily tendrils of velvety compulsion bleeding through the pack mind, seeping under the hawsers of my restraint: _How much longer, Seth?_

I gasped, shaking from the agony of trying to weather the Alpha's thick, overbearing compulsion to give in, to give him everything. It would break Bella's heart to cause them pain of any kind even though Jake was demanding that heartbreak, albeit unknowingly.

I left Jacob with no other choice than to order me.

I suppose it was inevitable.

Jake ruthlessly bit out the two word order that would sign my death warrant or ultimately be my salvation: **_Show me._**

Finally, I heard Bella's soft voice, releasing me from the despair of breaking her trust as she stepped into my line of sight, still swathed in nothing but a sheet that reeked of sex and Szechuan takeout. She stroked my muzzle, rubbing her jaw along mine in an instinctual gesture of lupine comfort, "It's okay, baby. Show him whatever he needs to see. We were going to have to tell him about the mark in a few days anyway."

I exhaled and my mind, my secrets, everything was laid bare before the altar of my Alpha's dominion.

* * *

**Seth POV (Flashback)**

_Jake prowled across the entryway of the garage toward Bella. Her heart was racing as she looked toward the doorway like she wanted to run, but knew it would only cause the dominant wolf within him to give chase._

What's he doing?_, I wondered_

He's scenting her_, my wolf growled._

Scenting her for what?_, I growled back._

_The wolf snarled, biting out words that were like a knife in my chest, _**To mate.**

Holy shit. No fucking way._ Bella looked like a cornered animal, not a woman in love, not a woman eager to be mounted and fucked by the pack's prized wolf stud. _He won't hurt her. He loves her, right?

We are protectors. She does not want this from the Alpha, young human. You must stop this before he makes a mistake, a terrible, irreversible mistake! You must interrupt. Play the part of the pup, the non-threatening little brother so you don't arouse any suspicion. He will attack a brother if he suspects you want her, too. Hurry, young human. Go!

_I ran out of the woods across the street from the Black house shouting, "Jake! Hey, Jake! Bells! What's up? Uh . . . Charlie sent me over, asked me to bring Bells up to the house. He's her ride home, you know?" I motioned pointedly at Bella's still steaming truck._

_Bella looked up at me, lip quivering, terrified. This was way worse than I thought. She had no idea what was going on with Jake, but it was obvious he was more wolf than human right now. He'd been snapping at the rest of us for a couple weeks around her. Well, the older wolves, mostly Paul and Quil, who were born horn dogs and had only gotten worse with the phase._

_Jake looked at me, his eyes curiously blank, head tilted in that odd lupine stare he'd get from time to time when the wolf was too close to the surface from being forced to take second to Sam's inferior wolf for so long. I knew Jake wasn't at the helm in there right now._

_"Jake," I said, quietly trying to soothe his wolf. "Her father needs her to come up to the house . . . where my mom and Leah are waiting? For dinner and then to head home? They're all expecting her. We don't want to piss Charlie off so he doesn't bring Bella down every time he visits to have dinner with your dad or my mom, right? Bella's safer when Charlie brings her to La Push more."_

_Jake blinked once, twice, then shook his head. When he looked at me again, the wolf was buried. Jake was back in control, but it was a close call._

_"Charlie sent me down to get Bells for uh, a family dinner with me, my mom, and Leah. Trying to make us feel like a family, miss Dad less or something, I guess."_

_Jake nodded in understanding, "Of course, yeah, don't be late and upset Charlie. We need him to cooperate so we can keep Bells safe."_

_He looked down at Bella, "You okay? You seem upset." The predatory look was gone altogether. His posture changed completely to brotherly concern._

_"Fine! I'm fine!," she chirped, verging on the edge of hysteria. Scooting carefully around Jake, trying to avoid coming in contact with him and re-awakening the wolf. Bella followed her instincts for once and made her escape at my side, shouting out a promise to call or text Jake later._

_About a quarter of a mile down the road, we broke our brisk, friendly pace and stopped just out of sight of the house. She was panting heavily, eyes wild and confused. I stooped down to whisper barely above the register of a breath in her ear, "We're still too close. He'll hear us if you speak now."_

_She nodded, understanding. Her legs wobbled and nearly gave out._

_"Piggyback ride?" I asked her. _

_"Yes, please," she practically sobbed, mouthing the words quietly._

* * *

_Charlie had to work late and Bella needed a lift home since Jake still had her truck and neither of us were brave enough to go over there without the buffer of at least one more less dominant wolf between us and Jake. Like Embry. Somebody who knew he never had a chance with her. His loyalty was to Jake. I thought maybe I'd suggest that Bella figure out a way to only see Jake when Embry was going to be there to avoid having Paul or Quil set off Jake's wolf again. The Alpha wolf in him was becoming more dominant and more interested in Jake the human's wants and needs. What Bella wanted didn't seem to matter to Jake's wolf. _

_Jake's wolf was kind of an asshole._

_Maybe I could teach her how to handle his wolf. I mean, me and my wolf could, so she could keep Jake as a friend and not get all freaked out and pressured by his wolf. Bonus: I'd get to spend time with Bella. She really did smell awesome. The girls at school always stank from too much perfume and scented body lotions and shower scrubs and shit. Bella was practically pack herself. She'd taken to using unscented shampoo and body wash like the rest of us because we'd become so sensitive to all the stinky shit the girls wore at school, so her natural scent and delicious pheromones were much easier to pick up._

That's fine for us_, my wolf conceded, _but perhaps not such a good idea when she's around the young Alpha. An unpleasant scent might mask her natural pheromones more and help curb the urges of the wolf. We should discuss this with her when we coach her to deal with the Alpha. She should not be afraid of him. It is wrong. We will coach her to stand up to the human and stand up for herself. The wolf will be less interested if the human is as well.

_"You ready, Bells?"_

_"Yeah, but, um, how am I getting home without my truck? You don't have a car or a license yet, right, Seth?"_

_Time to start being really honest with her, "No, but even if your truck was working, we wouldn't take it."_

_"Why?"_

_"I think the sound of your truck engine is like the bell to Pavlov's dog for Jake's wolf. He hears it coming and knows it means you're on your way. I was thinking, just for a little while until you and I can get a handle on how to help you deal with Jake's wolf, maybe you should stick to wolfback rides to and from the rez. I don't mind coming to get you and you really shouldn't be here alone with Jake for now anyway since we don't really know what's going on with him."_

_She sighed, then nodded reluctantly, "I think you're right. Maybe we should talk to Uncle Quil about his behavior, too. He might know something or be able to help."_

_"That's a good idea, but let me set it up here with just Old Quil when Leah is on patrol and Mom is out. Quil's wolf sets off Jake's when he's near you. Quil is just a little too dominant for Jake's wolf's liking these days, so going to his house to see his granddad wouldn't be a great idea right now."_

_"I think you're right. It's time to get some answers, too. Jake seems like he's losing himself to the wolf. We have to help him," she said firmly. God, even when he was stalking her like Bambi's mom, she was still looking out for his best interests._

_I clapped, rubbing my hands together, "Right, so one wolfback ride coming up." I dropped my hands to my shorts to drop them so I could phase._

_I stopped at the sound of a startled 'eek' and looked up in time to see Bella slap a hand over her eyes and spin around._

_I blushed, mortified. I let myself get too comfortable around her and forgot you don't just drop trou in front of a girl who's probably never even seen a guy naked before. My wolf rumbled at the thought, _She is chaste and modest with strange humans, lovely traits in a young woman.

I'm not a strange human! She knows me!_, I grizzled._

Yet, still, she is modest enough to want to give you your privacy.

Whatever.

_I reached out to touch her shoulder gently, but she jumped a foot off the ground anyway, "It's okay, Bella. I'm just going to go into the tree line to phase. I'll be back in a few seconds. You'll be okay?" _

_I didn't like walking away from her even for a few seconds in the woods. I knew it was a touchy thing for Bella to be in the woods alone since Edward left her._

_She grabbed my hand, just for a second, "Thanks, Seth." She realized after a few humming seconds that she was still holding my hand and dropped it like she'd been burned, blushing to the roots of her hair._

_I'm pretty sure I blushed, too. I rubbed my fingertips together, feeling a strange crackly sensation like static where her skin had come in contact with mine. I looked up and saw her doing the same. Her eyes met mine and there was a moment of recognition that something important had just happened._

_Trying to lighten the mood, I tipped her chin up with the barest brush of my finger under her chin, "You're pretty when you blush. Did you know that?"_

_She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, dropping her gaze down to the ground again, "Don't, Seth. Things are complicated enough without you telling me how pretty I am, too."_

_"Right, sorry, Bells. Let's go for a run, shall we?"_

- o -

_I lowered my haunches to the ground in the woods behind her house so Bella could slide off. She pulled my shorts out of her messenger bag and held them out, turning her back so I could phase human again. She did _not_ want to be alone in the woods here for even a moment._

_"You can turn around now," I said quietly._

_She turned, a smile lighting up her face as she took a big sniff, "I love that, that little hint of ozone scent in the air right after you guys phase. It smells like the air right after a rain storm, you know?"_

_"Really?"_

_"Yeah, it's amazing," she said, leaning in to take a big old whiff of eau de Clearwater. Her nose brushed my nipple and I yelped in surprise. We jumped apart like we'd been electrocuted, staring at each other wide-eyed and panting._

_I think I recovered first, reaching out tentatively to brush her arm reassuringly, but that crackling static feeling was still there and it was more tantalizing than ever. I looked at her lips, wondering if they would sizzle if I pressed my lips to them. Then I looked up at her eyes._

_She licked her lips, staring at mine, and I could tell she was wondering the same thing. We drew together, like magnets. One second we were three feet apart and the next she was in my arms and my skin was jumping with the sizzling white noise of her touch._

_She tipped her face up and I looked into her eyes, bringing my face close to hers. I just wanted to brush my lips over hers - had to - just for a second._

_The back door banged open as Charlie came out back to clean the grill. We jumped apart like the guilty teenagers we were, staring at each other wide-eyed and breathless._

_"This is not a good idea," she said, shaking her head._

_"Yeah, no kidding," I agreed._

_"I'll- I'll see you later, Seth, okay? Hey, who's babysitting me tonight?"_

_"Embry."_

_She breathed a sigh of relief._

_"But I'll be over in the morning. I'll do everything I can to keep Jake from pulling Bella Watch as long as Sam is still in charge, Bells. I might have to tell him that Jake is making you uncomfortable, pressuring you too much. Is that okay?"_

_"Whatever it takes, Seth. You or Embry would be good, but this, what just happened, it can't happen again, Seth. Too many people could get hurt if this gets out in the pack mind."_

_"My brain will be like Fort Knox, Bells. Besides, the last thing I'd want to do is share a private moment like that with my brothers. That's . . . that's just for me."_

_"Seth . . . " she blushed again._

_"Don't. I know, okay? Everything about it is a bad idea, but, ask yourself this, Bells," I reminded her, "If it's wrong, why did it feel so amazing just to hold each other? Just for a few seconds? The air hummed. There's something there now, something that wasn't there before."_

* * *

_A few weeks after our impromptu shopping trip to Port A, I perched on Bella's windowsill early one morning while she got ready for our run out to La Push. The curiosity was killing me, "How's the new Jake repellant working out?"_

_A huge grin split her face as she picked up a bottle and waved it at me triumphantly, "Ha ha! Awesome! He hates it and he doesn't even really know why."_

_She spritzed a little for me._

_"Gah! That's revolting. What's it called?"_

_"Sensual Amber."_

_"No wonder he hates it. It completely covers up your scent. Has he been complaining about it to you?"_

_She giggled, "Yes. Oh my gosh. He's always asking me why I keep wearing 'that shit'. I told him it makes me feel girly and feminine and he backs right off. I guess he thinks 'girly and feminine' is only steps away from 'horny, slutty, and ripping his pants off'."_

_I laughed._

* * *

_I looked at Bella over my cards. _Not yours_, I reminded myself._

So make her ours_, my spirit wolf advised. _Give her a reason to want to be ours. The rest will come. Patience, young human. You have much to learn. I have the wisdom of many warriors to teach you.

_"So, Bella, not that I mind babysitting you or anything, but don't you have better things to be doing than playing cards with me while we wait for the rest of the pack to kill the red-headed leech? Embry said you were taking some college classes online this summer through Peninsula. Don't you need to study this afternoon?" I asked._

_She worried her bottom lip between her teeth, "Can you keep a secret, Seth?"_

_Secrets? What secrets could Bella still have after revealing that she was dating a vampire and the one who'd been harassing us for months was after her? Not to mention we were calling that foo-foo shit from Bath and Body Works 'Jake repellant' and buying it by the bucket to help her keep him at bay._

_"Bella, I'm a werewolf. 'Course I can keep a secret. I'd do it for you anyway, even if, you know . . ."_

_She looked confused, "No, what?"_

_"Even if there were no monsters or magic or any of that, I'd keep secrets for you, if you asked me," I admitted quietly._

_"Oh!" She looked concerned, drawing her cards into her lap, those beautiful brown eyes shuttering, body language closing down. Then she asked, "Seth, how old are you?"_

_"Fifteen, almost sixteen. Why?"_

_She fidgeted in her chair, blushing furiously. She kept her eyes fixed on her cards in her lap when she mumbled, "I thought we'd decided not to do this. Don't you think I'm a little old for you?"_

_"No," I answered honestly._

_"What? Just 'no'?"_

_"Bells, I may be fifteen, but I look like I'm twenty-three or twenty-four and I have since I phased, what? Six months ago? I'm not a kid. I don't look like one. I don't think like one. My mind matured along with my body. Warrior's body, warrior's brain, you know?" I explained, hoping she'd catch on to my double meaning._

_"Oh . . ." the penny finally dropped. "Oh! You mean you . . . Well, of course, looking like you do and with all those other older guys in your head all the time, of course you'd think about- Well, who wouldn't want- Obviously, you're all hotter than- God, you know what? I'm just going to shut up now." She covered her face with her cards._

_I grinned. Flustered Bella was fun._

_She huffed at me, "Listen, I just broke up with Embry after three disastrous attempts at getting our first date right. I'm turning nineteen in a few weeks and going off to college - if Victoria doesn't kill me first - and you'll still be in high school! You're not even sixteen yet! That can't be legal!"_

_"The age of consent in Washington State is sixteen," I told her seriously._

_"My dad's a cop! He won't care!"_

_"So we won't tell him."_

_She sputtered, "You want me, but you want to keep it a secret?" _

_Now she looked annoyed. _

_I was right there with her. Trying to figure out girls was like trying to put together a chair from Ikea. You might as well sit on the floor._

_"Noooo . . . but you seem to kind of like the idea of you and me, too, and you're worried about what other people will think. We could just talk to my mom, if it would make you feel better. If she says she doesn't mind me dating a slightly older woman after my birthday, would you go out with me?" I dropped my voice to a husky whisper, "Keep secrets with me?" I smirked._

_She blushed. The pink flush crept from beneath the scooped neck of her tiny, fitted blue t-shirt up the soft, ivory column of her tender, bitable throat, cheeks flushing, ears pinking up. Her blush always made her even more beautiful._

_She shook her head, hands buried in the soft mahogany curls at her scalp, "Hold up. This is moving way too fast. How did we even get here? I was just going to ask you if you'd keep the police academy thing a secret and now you're asking me out?"_

_"Wait, wait, wait - what police academy thing?"_

_"What? Nothing. We were playing cards." She shook her head, clutching her cards like a life ring, she squeaked out, "Do you have any twos?"_

_"No. Go fish."_

* * *

_"There are no guarantees, Bella. No one goes into any relationship knowing for sure it will end in happily ever after. It's always a leap of faith, and sometimes you get burned. Great rewards are worth great risk. Yeah, I might imprint. I don't feel like I will, but I'm not afraid of it either. Not like Jake and Embry who are slaves to the fear of imprinting and losing something they're afraid to admit to wanting. They spend so much time worrying about something that might never happen that they're missing out on spending every precious second they could have with you. It's literally driving Jake's wolf insane. He doesn't know whether to scratch his watch or wind his butt anymore. Let's make a deal, you and I; let's just live in the moment for as long as we have and make the most of every shared heartbeat and let everybody else worry about themselves. I want you. Let me show you how great it can be, even if it's only for a little while."_

_"'Gather ye rosebuds'," she breathed, barely a whisper._

_"What was that, honey?"_

_"'Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, to the virgins, to make much of time', it's a poem, by Robert Herrick," she explained._

_"What does it mean?" I wondered._

_"Live in the moment because we're, none of us, promised tomorrow." Then she huffed, "Okay, it's taken to mean that in general terms, but it reads more like 'virgins, just because you're pretty today doesn't mean you won't be the crazy old cat lady tomorrow, so getcha some while the guys still think you have sexy ankles'." _

_I looked at her, she looked at me, and we cracked up laughing._

_"Seriously?!" I howled, grabbing my giggling girl and rolling across the floor. We came to a stop near the stairs, laying side by side, arms thrown over our heads, gasping for air as our laughter died out, forearms gently coming to rest together as we settled. My arm tingled where it came in contact with her cool skin. I spoke to the ceiling without turning my head to look at her, "Smart girls aren't just hot. Turns out they're pretty funny, too."_

_"Yeah? And hot?"_

_"Yeah, let me show you what I mean."_

* * *

_"Are you sure no one is going to be out patrolling this part of Forks today?" Bella asked as I tugged her by the hand down a winding path through the woods. I wanted to show her a spot I'd found a few weeks ago when I was patrolling on my own on Bella Watch when she came home for a long weekend. It was summer break again and we had three months to make the most of every second together without the rest of the pack._

_"Positive. I volunteered to babysit you today and the guys think you needed to run errands in Port A for more of that stinky shit you wear. There's no reason for anyone to patrol out here at all. We have all day," I said, coming to a stop after we rounded the bend and passed the tree that obstructed the view of the waterfall I'd saved just for this occasion._

_"Oh . . . Oh, Seth, honey, it's beautiful, like a little slice of paradise. Now I wish I _could_ stay the whole summer," she said regretfully. The little creek emptied about twelve feet above a small, relatively deep pond. The water was pretty clear. It would make a nice swimming hole on one of Forks's rare sunny days._

_I threw the backpack full of snacks and blankets on the ground and turned her in my arms, "What do you mean? You can't stay the whole summer?"_

_"Oh, I meant to tell you when I was home last time. I guess I forgot. My roommate, Hazel? She has a big surfing competition coming up. Two of them, really. The Billabong Pro in Tahiti and one back home in Hawaii. Her brothers can't go with her and they're giving her a hard time about going alone to a foreign country, you know? So her oldest brother, Nui, asked me to go with her. He's paying for my airfare and our hotels and everything since he can't get away right now. I leave at the end of July. We'll be gone for about a month with the long visit back to see her family and then we'll be home just in time to pack up and head back to U-Dub. I'm so sorry, Seth. I know how much you were looking forward to having me all to yourself as much as possible this summer. I'll make it up to you, I swear! I'll come home for every break the first semester and you can run out and crash at our place some weekends if you can get the time off of patrolling-"_

_"Babe! Babe, relax. I'm not mad. We'll just have to make the most of the time we have now, just like we always do. Every day like it's our last, right?"_

_She sighed in relief, "Yes, every day like it's our last. I'll still make it up to you. I'll put on a skimpy bikini and make Hazel take pictures of my pale, pasty ass on the beach. I practically glow in the dark when we go out at night compared to everyone else."_

_"You'll be careful? Not drink too much?" I asked, letting her go and flipping open a blanket on the soft ground by the damp edge of the pond._

_She shook her head, "We only drink when we go back to Hazel's family's coffee whatever plantation in the islands. Her brothers would flip their shit if we got drunk on a competition trip and they had to come bail us out."_

_"Fair enough. I trust her brothers," I stood, pulling her in for a hug, holding her close. "Soooo, that means we have about nine and a half weeks together?"_

_She nodded, brushing her thumb lightly over my nipple, making it pebble under my shirt._

_"Plenty of time," I assured her, lowering her to the blanket as she giggled and fumbled with the button of my cutoffs._

_"Plenty of time," she agreed, letting go of my shorts to pull her shirt over her head, her bright pink and black polka dot bra a shocking surprise under the dull grey U-Dub coed t-shirt. She lay down, grabbing me by the back of the neck and yanking me to the ground on top of her in a searing, hungry kiss filled with want and torrid promises for a very busy nine and a half weeks to come._

* * *

_"You sure you still want to do this, babe?" I asked, giving her one last chance to back out before we got caught for sure this time. "You know he heard your truck. He'll come looking for you any second now."_

_She nodded, wrapping her arms around my waist, "This is the last time, though. You'll have to be quick. I don't want to hurt him and you aren't making me any promises either."_

_"You know I'll never imprint. Even if I do, I'll fight it. I don't want that shit any more than anybody else. You saw what that shit did to Lee. Some bland milksop Quileute princess chosen by Taha Aki who needs to be cuddled and treasured and doted on? Fuck, no. I won't be collared. As for your other concerns, babe, I'm known for being thorough, not quick. Do my best," I promised._

_"That'll have to do," she nipped the underside of my chin and moaned into my throat, "Mmm . . . mine."_

* * *

_She writhed in my arms, getting swept up in the next wave, and whispered provocatively, "Fuck me, make me yours," as the wave of orgasm crashed over her again, but she'd forgotten about the wolf._

_You don't provoke the wolf._

_He roared, we roared through our release, pumping hard up into her battered pelvis; two hard, final thrusts, jaws clamping down on the tender flesh at the juncture of her neck and shoulder._

_We laid claim to our mate, worrying the soft, pale skin between our elongated teeth, coating her inside and out with the slick, oily scent of our saliva, musk, and cum - lots of cum. It overflowed her tight channel, seeping out around the place where we were still joined. She'd never be his again. She was ours._

_We collapsed, laying side-by-side afterward in a tired heap of sweaty limbs in the clearing, gasping for breath._

_The wolf receded, truly content for the first time since I phased. I lapped at the wound, the wolf saliva speeding the healing process slightly._

_"You marked me." It wasn't a question. She probed the area around the bite gingerly with her fingertips. It was raw and bruised._

_I rose up on my elbow, looking into her eyes worriedly, and tried to explain, "You asked for the wolf. You got him. You begged him to make you his. Now you are."_

_She stroked my cheek, "I know. I wasn't asking. You'd never have taken me when you still saw me as his. Your wolf _had_ to mark me. He can't fight this. I'm marked now. I'm yours."_

* * *

_We were curled up together in the bed of Bella's truck, resting our backs against the rear window. I jabbed chopsticks into cartons of cashew chicken and lo mein alternately, feeding tender bits to my girl. The wolf was always demanding that I try to get a few more pounds on her, give her the juiciest and choicest pieces, just generally caring for our mate. The scent of Bella's mushroom and beef and the lemon chicken made my wolf grumble a little. Her scent was almost completely masked by the strong odors of the food._

_"So, if you knew I wanted to mark you after constantly scenting your throat and driving myself crazy all summer, why didn't I want to do it sooner? You're the expert now. Explain it to me," I begged._

_She poked at her lemon chicken thoughtfully, "I talked to Uncle Quil about it. He thinks it's a matter of honor, respect from your wolf. He was waiting for me to ask, to give my permission to make me yours. I had to prove my worth to the wolf, prove I'm a worthy mate, by demanding you make me yours and not taking no for an answer."_

_I set the cartons of food aside and wrapped my arms around her waist, whispering in her ear, "I think Old Quil got some of that wrong."_

_She hmm'd in question._

_"I don't think it was you who had to prove yourself. I think the wolf was waiting for me to prove _myself _worthy of you. I had to be willing to fight for you, to take what I wanted without apology to my brothers. I had to be totally committed to fighting to make you mine and do whatever it takes to keep us together. This is a partnership, not ownership, not slavery like imprinting can be in the hands of the wrong girl. Maybe . . . " I paused, rolling a new idea around in my head, "Maybe we were both being tested by the spirits. Part of the marking ritual?"_

_"Could be," she agreed. "We should write it all down for the journals like the other packs, start keeping like a record of what happens to us since we're the first in the pack."_

_"You think there will be others?"_

_"Oh my gosh, are you serious? Once the wolf is out of the bag about the real reason for imprinting? I think it'll be open season on hot girls in La Push!"_

_I barked a startled laugh, "Holy shit, you're probably right. We should warn my mom to speak to the elders about giving another one of those contraceptive assemblies at the high school for the girls. Horny wolves aren't going to slow down long enough to ask a girl if she's on the pill, you know?"_

_She hmphed, annoyed, "It shouldn't just be the girls' responsibility. You asked if I was on something first."_

_"True, but you were my mate, even if you were unmarked. I put you first in everything I do. Not every girl Jake, Embry, Quil, Paul, and the pups are going to jump in the next few months will be their future mate. We'll warn the pack to take extra precautions, too, but better safe than dozens of newborn wolf whelps popping all over the rez, right?"_

_"Speaking of wolf whelps," she said, stroking a hand on either side of my neck, "Uncle Quil had another theory. The legend goes that a marked mate can only bear pups for her wolf mate, but there are some older texts in ancient Quileute that hint at the idea that a marked mate may be able to control ovulation so she only gets pregnant when she's ready to bear pups."_

_"Soooo . . ."_

_"So we could probably forego all the NFP extra measures and doubling up on contraceptive shots now. Your mom doesn't think it's a good idea for me to keep doubling up for very long anyway. It was fine for the short term because we didn't know how strong your little wolf swimmers were, but now that I'm marked, I feel kind of okay with the idea of letting nature take its course. Do I want a pup right away? Not necessarily. Will I be upset if I have your pup sooner rather than later? Absolutely not."_

_"Fuck, babe, you gotta stop all this talk about pups. The wolf," I panted. My dick fucking strained against the zipper inside my cutoffs. I could practically hear the teeth pulling apart from the pressure. "Fuck. The wolf wants you right the fuck now."_

_"Then have me, both of you," she pulled out of my arms, shrugging out of my hoodie._

_I shuffled out of her way as she stood briefly, untying the drawstring of my old blue and white Hawaiian print board shorts. They pooled at her feet. She reached for her swimsuit bottoms._

_"No! Let me," I begged. She dropped her hands to her sides._

_Kneeling before her, I stroked my fingertips across the instep of each of her dainty feet. I slid them around her ankles to the back and up over her calves as she spread her feet just a bit, stopping to place kisses on her knees. My fingers trailed behind to the sensitive skin at the back of each knee, stroking up the tender backs of her thighs, brushing my fingers beneath the irresistible curve of each pert, little rear cheek, letting my fingertips slide beneath the elastic legs of her suit. I brushed the slightly swollen pussy lips from behind, quickly dipping just the tip of one finger into her entrance. She was already soaked with want._

_She moaned, grabbing at my shoulders, throwing her head back, overwhelmed, panting between words, "What . . . what do you . . . need, baby? What do you need . . . from me?"_

_I rose to my feet and growled in her ear, the wolf and I together, in a voice she'd never heard before. "_**You. To fuck you like the wolf. On your belly. It's going to be rough****_,_**_" I promised her._

_"Then have me, Wolf," she panted, offering up her beautiful neck and full, lush breasts in submission to the wolf's wants._

_I pulled the bikini top down roughly, exposing her creamy tits, mauling them, biting at her throat, nipping her collar bone, chewing on the tender pink tips of each breast. Her arousal spiked. _

Our Bella likes it rough_, we thought together, pleased._

_I spun her around, bracing her against the cab of the truck, brutally yanking down the bottoms of her suit as I sank to my knees behind her, licking at her shoulder blades, her ribs, her hips, nipping sharply at the tender full flesh of her ass, running my tongue over the dimples at the base of her spine._

_Then I remembered our dinner, pushed aside and all but forgotten. I dipped a finger in the lemon sauce, bringing my finger up to those sassy little dimples above her ass, I touched my finger to each, then sucked off the sauce. Mmm...tangy Bella. I scooped up more sauce, drizzling it so it cascaded in little rivulets down her ass cheeks, some of it sliding in between._

_The wolf rumbled, _We'll have to lick that off.

Yes, we will_, I thought, bringing my hot tongue to her skin. I bathed my mate's sweet pink flesh with my tongue while she moaned, collapsing on the roof, bare tits pressed into the cold metal of her truck cab, hands splayed on either side for support. Her legs were clenched tightly together as I paid tribute to her beautiful backside, savoring it before giving over to the wolf completely._

_I dribbled more lemon sauce below her tail bone and she giggled as it trickled down the crease, "That tickles!"_

_"_Does it?_" I asked. "_I don't want you to be uncomfortable, Isabella._"_

_She blinked looking over her shoulder at me, astonished at my use of her full first name. A cloud of her aroused scent enveloped me again. She liked the wolf's brusque formality and barely contained dominance, I noted. Interesting._

_I lowered my head one more time, giving her a gentle shove up onto her toes as I pried apart her cheeks, bringing my tongue to taste her there for the first time. The wolf rumbled in ecstasy at the pure undiluted scent of mate surrounding us as we laved our mate with our saliva and musk, mixing our scents. I dropped lower, circling my tongue around the pink, puckered rosebud there. Bella gasped, flailing, scrabbling at the roof for purchase as she writhed on my tongue. _

_I licked, sucked, nipped at that little, tightly-clenched rosebud, thinking I'd have to pay it more attention in the future. Bella was clearly enjoying herself. _

_Her desire dripped from between her puffy pink lips over my chin. I dipped lower still to lick it all up, the wolf not wanting to waste a drop of the scent of mate. I ran my tongue roughly back and forth, forcing the tip between her tight lips, getting frustrated finally and pulling her legs apart so I could do my task justice. I slipped two fingers inside her dripping cunt, stretching her ruthlessly, preparing her for a pounding unlike anything I'd given her before._

I need to be covered in her scent. My hands, my face, my throat, my cock_, I thought with a growl, standing and dropping my cutoffs._

_I leaned over Bella's back, snarling savagely, "_**Are you ready?**_"_

_"Pleeeease," she begged, mindless with desire, thrashing her head, arching her back deeply, bucking her ass back into my cock in supplication._

_I kept one hand at the back of her neck, gently holding her where we wanted her and brought my cock to her juicy center, rubbing the tip back and forth, gathering moisture, rubbing it over the glans, taunting myself at the same time, working up the wolf. _

_She whimpered and I couldn't hold back any longer. I lunged forward, impaling her on my cock, forcing her up on her toes while I held her hip in a tight grip and pounded her viciously in a punishing rhythm._

_She gasped and grunted, reveling in the force of each thrust, arms splayed out to the side as she gave herself over to the moment, to the wolf, her soft, warm titties mashed against the cold metal of the truck, her hips thumping with each thrust against the cab, she took it all. _

This, this right here_, I thought, _is the difference between an imprint who needs to be cherished and treasured like a tribal relic, a delicate, little piece of glass, and a mate who matches her wolf, her partner, stroke for stroke, thrust for thrust, giving as good as she gets.

_The tension was mounting as her pussy gripped and pulled on my cock with each tug of backstroke, the pressure built and my balls began to tighten just as Bella let out a primal wail of unfettered, luscious gratification._

_I thrust hard once more, soaking her with my scent as I shouted in relief, too. I lay over her back as we came down from our high, pleased when I felt the copious proof of my finish pouring down her legs. I ran my nose over the mark, nipping it and she moaned, coming again instantaneously at the brief contact, squeezing the last ropy jets of cum from my softening cock._

_Now, she truly carried my scent. I wanted to let it dry on her thighs then cart her off to Sam's and lay her out nude and dripping with my scent on that long dining room table of his precious Emily's to fuck my Bella hard again, show the pack she was mated. My mate, my Bella._

* * *

**Seth POV (Present)**

I came back to myself as the blanketing threads of compulsion receded, pulling away the encompassing mask of the Alpha's will to show him everything of consequence, everything he wanted from me.

The pack remained silent.

More notably, so did Jake. Then his rage suddenly escaped, hitting flashpoint and going nova within the shared pack mind, a mushroom cloud of his righteous fury and devastation just before he phased out.

The pack rocked back on their haunches.

Sam spoke up, quietly: _You, Bella and Embry better get down to my place before he hunts you down where we can't follow and keep him from killing you. He seems okay right now, but who knows what he'll do next. Anything could happen. _Then more softly,_ I'm so sorry, Seth._

He did sound genuinely sorry for invading our privacy even if he didn't voice that as his reason for apologizing. It was there in the minds of everyone still phased. They were embarrassed to have been witness to Jake taking those private memories of mine with Bella and laying them out for all the pack to see for the sake of his pride and jealousy.

Bella would understand about the order, I knew that, but I felt like something had been taken from both of us. A violation of our trust in our Alpha because we didn't tell him a few days earlier than we'd planned, but then again, I suppose he thought we'd abrogated any trust he may have placed in us by our actions, being forced to sneak around behind everyone's backs to keep Bella safe from the overeager interest of some of my brothers.

I phased out, drawing back my shoulders as the wolf shored up my resolve. I'd done the right thing. I'd taken care of my mate without putting her in the middle of World War III. The secret was out. Most of the pack understood. Jake would get her scent sooner or later and it would calm his wolf and his wolf would calm him like mine calmed me. Everything would eventually be okay. At least, I thought it would.

✫.¸¸ . ✶*¨*. ¸ .✫*¨*.¸¸.✶*¨'*✫

**End notes:**

**Presses tip of index finger coyly to her pursed lips, **_Do you hate me yet?_

_Did you catch the Beauty and the Beast reference? And the Steel Magnolias one?_

**The hubs, this past Monday afternoon: "You're channeling Donna Moss via Aaron Sorkin to write fan fiction? It's a bizarre writing process you have, isn't it? 'Gather ye rosebuds', my fat ass."**

**Leave me some love in the comments and some suggestions and I will love on you back with more steamy lemony goodness in an upcoming chap! We'll be taking a few steps forward from here before we take another big one back in time like this again to possibly revisit one of these snapshots in greater detail at full length. Thanks for reading!**


	4. Ch 5 - Awakening An Alpha

**_A/N:_**_ As I explained to a friend this week who told me this was a good story and not to stress it when I worried over the ridiculous length of the chapters, I know what this story really is - insanity strapped to a rocket with a squirrel duct-taped to the front, but hang on and enjoy the ride with me anyway. We're going weird places together, at the very least._

_I originally wanted Jake to get a good, strong whiff of marked Bella and Seth reeking of juicy Swan kitty, then turn on Seth instead of poor Embry being the fall guy back in chapter 2 when I first wrote this scene. Then I split it, but that's really not how chapter 2 wanted to be written. So you get this glorious shit storm instead. Poor Jerkob. I have to knock him around a little and break him before he can earn his absolution. I like to think I'm giving him room to grow._

_BTW, did all you dirty birds think I wouldn't notice that chapters 2 and 4 with the hot, sticky lemony-lemons got HUNDREDS more views than chapters 1 and 3? Like I don't know you're all out there perving to some hot, smutty, Sethy goodness under the covers. Tell the truth and shame the devil; my Seth made your Rub Club, didn't he? ;)  
_

**_Pimpin' for My Homies:_**_ I have awesome pre-readers who are all also writers. If you haven't yet, you should check out some of their fics; madmamabear, SuperGirl-Gem, MP, and SparklingFae are all amazing storytellers and have been endlessly patient with me while I've picked their brains these past few weeks. All of them can be found on Tricky Raven for certain, some on FFn, and maybe on the new FictionPad (still in Beta) site that has been gaining in popularity this week. I can be found on all of those sites as well as Archive of Our Own very soon. So if this fic should disappear due to some kind of FFn smut housecleaning insanity, rest assured, you can still get your YMO fix over on TR (now with pictures!) and FictionPad, and very shortly on AO3, too._

_Sorry for the wordy A/N. Sometimes I just have a lot of stuff to unload on you guys all at once. Speaking of wordy, here it is, all 9,600 words and 18 pages that probably should have been at least two or three chapters. Don't ever claim I don't love and appreciate you, darling readers._

**Pre-Readers: madmamabear, SuperGirl-Gem, and some extra special help from my girls MP and SparklingFae. **

**No Beta, so all errors are mine, all mine and my stupid hands that type what they want and not always what I mean.**

**Epitheteer: Johnnyhandro**

**Banner Made By Mist**

**Rating**: **MA, seriously, this one is intense. Go to bed kiddies. Strong language and violence are where it's at in this chap. Lots of angry words you'd never hear in church, that's for damn sure. **

**Disclaimer:** SM owns. All I've got is a can of Cherry Coke, a fat dog, and an old hippie who keeps my ass warm on cold Pocono nights.

* * *

✫.¸¸ . ✶*¨*. ¸ .✫*¨*.¸¸.✶*¨'*✫

**Chapter 5 - Awakening An Alpha**

**Bella POV**

It was a quiet ride back to the rez. Embry opted to ride in the back of the truck. He wouldn't even look me in the eyes. I had a really bad feeling about what happened when they were phased together.

I ran my finger nervously up and down the edge of my seatbelt before unbuckling and shifting closer to Seth across the bench seat. He held up his arm so I could slide under and nestle against his side, a comforting rumble emitting from his chest when my cheek made contact with his warm skin. Actually, he wasn't quite as warm as I had grown accustomed to. The charged sensation remained constant between us, that static electric tingle that made us feel both alive and made us crave full skin-to-skin contact with every ripple of energy transferred between us, but he seemed closer to my temperature now.

That worried me. His 108.9 degree temp was the very thing that kept him at his prime; it burned off illness and infection and kept his muscles and joints limber and phase-ready at all times. Marking me shouldn't weaken him. I filed away a reminder to discuss it with Uncle Quil after the pack meeting - if we survived the pack meeting.

I knew Seth would tell me what happened while he was phased after he'd had a few minutes to settle down. He'd managed to phase back, but it was obvious that he remained unsettled after phasing out. He was driving with one hand so he could keep pulling me tight against him, turning his head just a little and scenting my throat. More than a dozen times on our way to Sam's he had to scent my mark to calm down.

I wasn't uncomfortable with his proximity at all, but, suddenly, I began to feel so warm, unbearably so. I unzipped my hoodie and fanned my face with my free hand.

Seth tightened and loosened his grip on the steering wheel, making the leather cover creak as he tensed and released in agitation.

Otherwise the ride was pretty quiet. Embry sat in the back with his knees drawn up, head in his hands, muttering.

Seth continued to shake.

I felt his anger, his distress, like it was my own. I leaned in for every sniff, offering up my throat to soothe his wolf, and ran my hand up and down his thigh to soothe the warrior, my Seth. Resting my fingertips on the bare skin just below the hem of his shorts, I thought about getting him out of those shorts later, leading him out into the woods again later that night and begging him to fuck me, mark me again.

The rumbling in his chest ratcheted up a few decibels and he rumbled in that wolf overtone, "**Mmm . . . we'd like that.**"

I looked at him in confusion, "What?"

"To fuck you and mark you again later. We were rudely interrupted. The pack's scent will be all over you after the meeting. We'll need to stink you up again," he explained, reverting back to just my Seth.

"Honey, I didn't say anything," I said, looking back and forth between his eyes, searching for his meaning.

He slowed to a stop as we gazed into each other's eyes, seeking answers, "You did. You said you wanted to get me out of these shorts again later and were going to take me out into the woods again tonight and beg me to fuck you and mark you again."

The reality of what he was telling me finally hit home, "Seth, I didn't_ say_ any of that. I _thought_ it."

"Holy shit," he murmured quietly, running the backs of his fingers from my temple to my jaw. "_Another _unexpected result of the marking? How many surprises will there be?"

Now I was beginning to worry about what we'd gotten ourselves into, "I- I don't- I'm not sure. There's nothing about this in any of the journals I've read. This isn't supposed to happen."

He cocked his head to the side in lupine concentration, "Maybe it's not the marking. Maybe it's you. Some of your other senses have heightened and you've always been intuitive. Maybe that's like something you're sharing with me and I just know?" He shook his head, "I don't know what I'm saying. Theories. We'll have to figure it out as we go."

I worried my bottom lip between my teeth, "If it happens again-"

"Yeah," he agreed quickly. "I'll try to be mindful of it now. Don't want to be answering your unspoken thoughts out loud, right?"

The horror of that possibility made me gasp in stunned disbelief.

He patted my leg and nuzzled me with his stubbly chin, "I'll only reply to the things I see your lips moving to say, okay? 'Til we figure it out."

I let out the breath I'd been holding, nodding my head in contemplative silence.

We bumped along the back roads, taking and offering comfort to and from each other. Embry continued muttering in the back until we drew nearer to the residential part of the rez. He went silent then, that stoic 'Sam' mask that I detested so much dropping over his face as we neared Sam and Emily's place.

Seth swung into the driveway, putting the truck in park and taking a few deep breaths while he ran his hands up and down the sides of the steering wheel, the leather creaking again in protest to the continued abuse. Embry leapt out of the truck bed and waited courteously for us to join him.

Seth slid out, offering me a hand to jump down to the ground beside him. I noticed again how cool he felt to me and how hot and clammy I felt by comparison. I was never hot.

I remarked on it acidly, my temper spiking again, "Jeez, I'm sweating like a whore in church on Palm Sunday here. What the hell is going on? I haven't done anything wrong. I have no reason to be nervous about seeing Jacob-fucking-Black."

I frowned at Seth, becoming even more irritable as I continued to rant, "Is it just me or is it really fucking hot for Washington in mid-October all of a sudden? What the fuck?"

Seth and Embry looked startled.

Seth's faced showed his concerned as he reached out to brush his hand over the nape of my neck, his cooler touch a soothing balm, "You're hot? You're never hot, honey."

"All evidence to the fucking contrary right now," I muttered testily.

"Babe," Seth's jaw dropped.

"Sorry. I'm just not used to this, the heat and the stress, feeling like I have to defend myself for loving whoever the hell I fucking want . . ." I growled and stomped my foot. A dust cloud rose as I pulverized the gravel beneath my foot, the truck swaying gently from the vibration rippling through the ground.

Embry's eyebrows shot up to his hairline. He blinked at me in shock.

Seth ran his hand up my arm, wrist to shoulder, across my collar bones, soothing the aching heat, "Bella, you're burning up. You feel like . . . us . . ."

I sighed in relief, "Oh, thank god, it's just me! I thought you were getting cooler from the marking, that your temp was regulating closer to mine for some reason. I'm glad it's me. That's better. You need to be hot. I can live with this. I mean, except for this fucking hoodie." I whipped it off angrily. Seth held out a hand to take it from me. Mmm . . . Sweet man, my man . . . my mate. I purred as I leaned into him to rest my damp, fevered brow on the sleek, silk-covered steel hardness of his pec, surreptitiously nuzzling his nipple. He was _just_ that teensy bit cooler than me and it felt _divine_.

The wolf rumbled throatily in response and Seth's breathing deepened. I suspected they may have heard that thought, too.

"You're sure you want to go in there in nothing but a bikini and my old board shorts, covered in my scent and lemon sauce?"

"If I thought I could get away with it without Jacob flipping out, the shorts would go, too. I feel like I'm on fire. How do you stand this?" I snarled.

He shrugged, his eyes caressing my face as heat pooled between my thighs in response, "You adjust eventually. The heat heightens certain scents, magnifies them. It's-" He inhaled deeply, parting those plump, talented, silken lips, drawing the scent of my arousal over his tongue and panting quietly, pinning me with the intense, incandescent gaze of the wolf.

I hummed in response, arching into his touch, aching to feel him stretching me with his hot cock.

Embry cleared his throat, eyes wide, a little horrified - like he was watching his parents make out. Asshole.

I took Seth's hand as we walked up the path to the house together.

Embry stopped Seth and I just before the door to try to talk Seth down. He cautioned Seth sagely, "Dude, I know you're all hot and bothered and seriously pissed at him, but it's a fight you _can't_ win. Don't let your hormones dictate what you do when you step through that door. He's still going to be Alpha and he might kill you just for the hell of it at this point . . . " Then he lowered his voice so only we could hear, "And I think he's kinda messed up, the wolf's fucking with him, you know?"

""Embry!" a voice barked from inside. _Sam_, I sneered.

We stood at the top of the stairs on Sam's porch, letting Embry run inside ahead of us.

I put my hand on Seth's vibrating arm, "Wait, Seth? I need to know - how much do they know?"

This was the thing that worried me most. What had Jacob seen? Just the marking? Us sneaking around, trying to date without really dating and living in the moment because of the fear of imprinting? Or, god forbid, maybe he'd seen Seth helping me learn how to deal with Jacob's wolf, trying to mask my scent to smell less appealing to him when he made me so uncomfortable the previous two summers. I hated the thought of hurting Jacob and having the pack know about that could only hurt him and undermine his authority.

I was still seething, royally pissed off, but my heart broke a little imagining what it would be like to see yourself through the filter of someone's thoughts who sees all your flaws, sees you at your worst. Seth and I certainly had seen the worst while we watched Jacob struggle these past two years after he took on the role of Alpha.

Seth sighed, trying to calm the tremors again, and gave me a sad smile, "Pretty much everything. I'm so sorry."

"Babe, you have nothing to apologize to me for," I reassured him, running my hands lightly up and down his arms. "You've spent two years helping me through an impossible situation with Jake - and occasionally with Embry - so I could keep their friendship at a time when I desperately needed my friends. You have proved to me time and again that I am your first priority after your pack duties, which is how it should be. I know the only reason you and Embry would be this upset is because Jacob ordered you to show him something he had no right to ask to see."

He hugged me tight, murmuring into my hair, "You're too good for me. You know that?" He kissed the fiery skin at my temple.

"Stop that. We're perfect for each other. I really am a wolf-girl now. We've gone through too much to have each other only to start playing that unworthy game," I shushed him with a febrile finger to his lips. Then I gulped, "Now, what exactly did they all see that I need to know about?"

He flushed, embarrassed as he admitted, "The marking this afternoon and . . ." He sighed, ". . . what Embry saw and that one time _during_ dinner."

He looked at me meaningfully and it clicked into place.

Wow.

Now Embry not making eye contact was making a _lot_ more sense. I shuffled my feet nervously, shifting my weight from one hip to the other and hanging onto my Seth, my lifeline, drawing on his strength and comfort as I tried to process what that meant. He stroked a cool hand down my throat, ghosting his breath over my heated mark.

I chuckled weakly, blushing sixteen shades of crimson as I hid my face in my hands and tried to keep things light, "Oh, well, at least it was a good one. The lemon sauce, right? Oh my word. You were on fire, babe. We could have sold tickets to that show." I choked on the laugh, hiding my face in his chest, the anger beginning to dissipate a little as I struggled to keep things in perspective.

"Bella . . ." he looked at me helplessly. "Don't make a joke out of this. He took something precious from us."

"He did," I nodded, agreeing, pulling back to look up into his worried eyes, "but _we_ also kept secrets. I'm not saying the two are comparable - not even close - but we have something to own up to as well. We knew there would be fallout when we decided to keep our relationship quiet and keep it a secret between us, your mom, and the others."

He held me close, steadfastly trying to soothe his wolf, "Oh, god, Jake's gonna blow a gasket when he finds out it wasn't just Old Quil helping you research the legends," he whispered into my hair.

I gasped, "He doesn't know?"

He shook his head, "He didn't know to _ask_."

"Shit, I figured we were over that hump the way Embry was freaking out," I huffed out an annoyed breath, temper spiking again.

Seth smiled a little, "I'm pretty sure Emb was freaking out because you kicked his ass then he saw you getting a rim job over the cab of Jake's dad's old truck. He's had a bit of a rough day."

I snorted hysterically, clapping my hands over my flushed face, "Oh my god, what a fucking mess." I kept laughing. I couldn't stop.

Seth finally joined in, settling his wolf eventually. Happy mate, happy wolf, I supposed. His arms tightened around me, "Everything's going to be okay. I have faith."

I stroked his throat, wondering if he'd let me mark him in return some day. His wolf rumbled at that shared thought while I carried on, "Babe, that's what this whole marking ritual has been about, not just the act of claiming. It's about us showing our strength and our faith in each other and the spirits that we believe we're doing the right thing and we trust them to guide us."

"They guided me to you along with my wolf. I have no reason to question them any longer," he vowed.

"You trust them, but do you trust me?" I ask earnestly.

"Of course I do."

"Good. Then when we go in there, I need you to let me take the lead, take care of this myself. I need to stand up to him and show his wolf I've earned my place in the pack by not letting you fight my battles for me. His wolf has become a liability, I think." I dropped my voice low, barely a whisper in his ear, "Jacob has grown increasingly unstable because he's at odds with his wolf. He hates it, thinks he's a monster. If he scents me, I think it will settle him down and he'll start looking at other girls again which will settle his wolf down, too. His wolf has physical needs that Jacob has been ignoring. I could be wrong, but I feel like all the weird stalking and scenting and aggression is the influence of the wolf, trying to interpret what Jacob wants and to help him gain it at any cost and failing as Jacob locks him out to keep him from . . . marking me against my will these last few years. I think _our_ Jacob is still in there, babe, and I'm pretty sure this is the only way to help him. I think it's part of the crucible of marking, showing that we're worthy of this gift. I also think this is part of _Jacob's_ marking crucible."

"Seriously? You think we'll all have to jump through hoops for this even after what we've gone through?"

"Babe, I think we had it easy. Think about what Jacob's been through, beginning with his mother's death when he was nine, his sisters leaving him alone to care for an aging and ill father, phasing at sixteen, losing his first love . . ."

"Christ," he rubbed a hand over his face as the implications of it all sunk in, "It's a wonder he's not in a fucking nut house already."

"Yeah," I agreed, straightening, taking a few calming breaths myself. It wouldn't do to go in there hot and pissed, ready to pick a fight with an unbalanced Alpha wolf. "You ready?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," he nodded. "I got this now."

"Just keep your cool," I reminded him before we opened the door.

"As long as he does," Seth winked and brushed a hand over my ass as he held the door for me.

We took two steps into the living room and flattened ourselves against the far wall as we heard someone take a deep breath before we heard Jacob roar and launch himself at Seth.

He never touched him, though. I got in his face and shoved with all my might, knocking him back a few steps before the pack swarmed into the infinitesimal gap between us. "Back the fuck off, Jacob! If you're pissed at anyone, be pissed at me for not meeting your precious, perfect fucking, blue-blooded expectations!"

A collective indrawn breath answered my dictate while Jacob continued to gnash and snap at us through the arms of the pack like a rabid dog, so out of his mind, he couldn't even form coherent words.

"This isn't getting us anywhere, Jacob. Bitch and foam at the mouth all you want. You're still just a child throwing a tantrum. It didn't work on me when we were kids and it sure as shit won't work now," I thundered ferociously, sticking an angry finger in his face, just out of reach of his snapping teeth and flying spittle.

Seth wrapped his arms around my waist from behind, tipping his chin up proudly, and remained quiet and calm; my rock, my silent, steadfast paladin in the eye of the storm. I shuddered as I suddenly felt his emotions run through me; pride, love, loyalty bombarded me. I was overwhelmed momentarily by this new sense of my mate.

He ran his mouth soothingly over the twin crescent scars on my throat that were finally beginning to heal over at closer to wolf speed, never breaking eye contact with our Alpha in a silent challenge to recognize me as his mate, as pack.

Jake was appalled. He struggled against Embry, Quil, and Paul as he all but howled at Seth, "YOU ASSHOLE! YOU BIT HER?! You _actually_ bit her? I'll kill you, you sneaky little fucker! Jesus Christ, Seth, look at her fucking neck! It looks like she got mauled by a real wolf! What **_the fuck_** were you thinking?!"

"He didn't bite me," I quietly defended my newly-minted mate.

"What? Were you attacked by _an animal_? _A vamp_? What the hell happened to you then, _honey_?" Jacob bit out sarcastically.

"He marked me," I answered calmly.

"So . . . he _did_ bite you?" Jacob sneered, shaking off Quil before Jared stepped in to take his place. They wouldn't risk her by letting him go before he calmed down.

"It's not just a _bite_, Jacob. He _marked_ me," I tried to explain. My eyes dropped to the floor briefly before I squared my shoulders, tilted my chin up proudly, and said in a clear, calm voice, "As his mate. He marked me as his mate. I asked him to."

Jake, staggered back like I'd punched him in the face, "You . . . you _let_ him bite you?"

I nodded once firmly, "I encouraged it. We've been seeing each other for a little over a year now. I know I wasn't entirely honest with you and I _am_ sorry about that, Jacob, but . . . Damn it, Jacob! Stop growling for five goddamn minutes!" I yanked on my hair, frustrated with the growling. It put me on edge again and I had to fight to stay calm to explain myself, "Listen, I minored in Native American Studies for the past two years along with my Biology major, well-I double-majored, but-" I waved both hands in dismissal, "that's not important right now! I've been working with Uncle Quil to read through the old pack journals and researching animal mating practices, wolf pack dynamics, and Native American creation legends that involve wolves and shape-shifters to see if there was any hope for non-imprinted couples in the pack. I was _willing _to take the risk and I knew Seth had been thinking about marking me. He was paying a lot of attention to this one spot on my throat over the summer."

"Of course he was thinking about marking you!" Jacob barked. "I've thought about it constantly for almost three years!" Seth interrupted with a low growl of warning, "but I've never acted on it! I don't just go around biting people because some asshole wolf spirit says so!"

"**Mind your step, Jacob Ephraim**. **That is our mate and a member of this pack you're speaking to**," Seth's wolf reprimanded the Alpha in the deep Beta bass tone.

Jacob's nostrils flared, his wolf incensed at the reprimand in front of the pack as he renewed his struggles against the others.

Jacob had really gotten under my skin and, finally, I fucking let loose, "No, maybe not, but it never stopped you from doing what _you_ wanted first and foremost, did it, Jake? And your wolf follows where you lead, doesn't he? The pack always _bitched_ and_ moaned_ about how selfish _I was _for using you after Edward left, how cruel it was for me to string you along. Did it ever occur to you, or the rest of you," I fixed my glare on the mass of bodies between us to hiss at the pack, "that you were the only friend I had left? The Cullens deliberately isolated me from other humans for their own comfort to draw me into their thrall and when they left, I had nothing until you came back into my life, Jake! My oldest friend! My best friend! My _only_ friend. And how did you abuse that position of trust while I went through the venom withdrawal?! You pushed yourself on me constantly, only ever interested in my friendship if it meant you could get in my pants some day! There was always that silent qualifier, always those strings attached. Should I have given in, let you fuck me just so I could keep your precious _friendship_? Because we made sand castles together when I was four and your were two? Or keep you at arm's length? Try to find a way to keep my only friend and my sanity? I'm sorry if I misled you by wanting to keep you in my life as my friend, but the onus was on you for wanting more than I was willing or able to give, Jacob! Yes, I needed you! My best friend! Even if a bad friend was the best I could hope for!"

My voice rose to an embarrassingly furious shriek as I jabbed a finger in his face again, "You were the one who fell in love with that hulled out inhuman shell that Edward Cullen left behind! That's what is the most fucked up about all of this, Jake. You saw me as an easy mark. I needed a friend and all you wanted from me was _a piece of ass_!"

"Is _that _what you think?" Jacob choked out, eyes wide, fists clenched, tendons straining.

I tried to keep my cool, but it was a losing battle, "I have no evidence to the contrary, Jacob! Ever since you started showing signs of the pre-phase, our friendship was always about you, what _you_ wanted, _your_ needs, how _you_ could fix me if I let you _have me_, like a _thing_! _To own! LIKE THAT FUCKING LEECH WHO LEFT ME FOR DEAD!_"

The pack waited, hushed, to see who was going to go off next. I could suddenly feel their emotions, too, a side effect of the marking, I assumed, since I was getting a little of that from Seth before. It was _so much_. It was deafening, blinding, numbing; coming at me from every direction at once. Their feelings continued to bombard me; shame at their betrayal of my trust, how badly they had treated me after the leeches had already hurt and abandoned me to whatever sickness the absence of their venom caused in the months that followed, anger turned inward for being blind to their actions and faults.

All they'd done was victimize me again, they felt, for being unable to withstand the vampires' natural thrall. I was little more than fresh meat to the vamps and the pack had treated me little better.

Then I began to shake.

**Seth POV**

Bella was shaking by the end of her diatribe. Shaking like a wolf about to phase.

Fuck.

_Shaking like a wolf about to phase._

The elevated temperature, the aggression, the strength, the shared thoughts like the pack mind . . . Worry began to creep in.

Embry must have noticed, too, because he spoke up, "Bella, honey, you need to calm down. You look-"

"Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP! Nobody fucking talks but me right now!" she screeched, bringing her fists to her temples, her body blurring around the edges.

"She looks like she's about to phase! What the fuck did you do, Seth?" Leah yelled, growling and further compounding the problem as Bella's face turned fuchsia.

Leah threw her arms out, pushing some of our brothers backwards, away from Bella and I a few precious, difficult steps at a time as Jacob continued to fight from behind the wall of bodies to get through to us, to me. He wanted to rip out my throat.

I growled back at her, "The wolf gene isn't contagious, Lee. It's something else. Something from the marking. There's other stuff I-"

Paul just couldn't leave well enough alone, though, "She sure as shit looks like she's about to wolf-out."

"**_I SAID SHUT UP!_**" she screamed at Paul, then looked at me, horrified as reality crashed down on her - that she was unable to stop whatever supernatural force was suddenly bearing down on her tiny body. "Seth . . . oh, god, Seth, babe, RUN!"

She shoved me away from her as hard as she could. Suddenly, the blurring sped up to the point that I lost sight of her altogether right before a sonic boom erupted, knocking me off my feet. Then it was like having double-Bella-vision; just for a second, I could see two of her as a shock wave formed a compression bubble around her, rapidly expanding in all directions, the concussive force slamming into me like a freight train, knocking me into the wall at my back hard enough to crack it, pinning the rest of the pack to the walls and floor, knocking over furniture, cracking drywall, shattering glass. It slowly passed through me and I felt all her rage, her despair at hurting Jacob, her terror for me, her fear for the pack's safety. Whatever it was eventually passed harmlessly right through me and I stood, shaking it off as I took in the continuing devastation.

In the middle of the room stood Bella, clothes shredded by the blast whipping in tatters around her, flapping wildly in the aftermath, face contorted in pain and crimson with rage, hands gripping her head, wild brown curls like licking flames thrashing around her in slow motion in the wake of the shock wave as another sonic boom followed, knocking me back a step.

She took a deep gasping breath, bringing a hand to her heart.

She gasped again, coming back to herself, and her eyes popped open as the anger melted away and she bent over, dropping to her knees, taking in her surroundings, panting, exhausted, drained.

She and I turned together to survey the room. My brothers were pinned to the walls and floor, furniture broken and scattered everywhere like matchsticks, windows turned into jagged, gaping holes in what remained of the walls.

She wrapped one arm across her breasts when she realized her clothes were shredded, bringing the other hand up to cover her mouth, "Oh my god. What- What just happened?"

"Shh . . . it's okay, honey. Werewolves, remember? There's nothing broken here that can't be fixed," I said, grabbing the hoodie she'd removed earlier from the floor in the hallway and draping it over her shoulders as I dropped down beside her. I tucked her arms in the sleeves like I would dress a small child. She was in shock, unable to help me dress her or even really care about her nudity anymore. I zipped her up, gently rubbing her back in soothing circles until the tension in her back and shoulders began to thaw and her hands unclenched.

"Bells?" Quil muttered through gritted teeth from his spot where he remained pinned to the floor. "Could you let us go now?"

"Let . . . ? Let you go? I- I'm not doing anything!" She covered her mouth with both hands now, stunned and terrified to realize that she was responsible the destruction surrounding us.

"Pretty sure that was you, leech-fucker," Paul mumbled, still tacked to the wall five feet off the floor.

We growled at our brother. Our girl was _not _a leech-fucker.

Leah, bound to the floor by the same invisible restraining force, rasped out, "It's like phasing. When she got mad, Seth. She needs to calm down."

"I am calm!" Bella screeched, panicking, hands fisted at her temples.

"Bells, you're not, honey," I said gently. "You're not calm, not like _we_ need to be to phase back human."

Sam had been through this with most of us when we'd phased, so he kept his head, biting out through immobilized teeth, "He's right. You either need to go get Old Quil to fix this or you need to calm down so it stops. Try touching Seth."

"Seth?" she looked at me, lip quivering tremulously, begging for Sam's guidance. "What do I do? I don't want to hurt him."

"Just sit there and let him touch you. If it's anything like an _imprint_, it'll help you calm down," Jake muttered, angry and bitter, face obscured, trapped behind the couch against the wall.

Bella's face flushed red, the anger rushing back at the sound of Jake's voice, my brothers and sister grunting as the pressure increased.

"For fuck's sake! Shut up, Jake! Give her ten goddamn minutes to get her shit together before you start on her again, asshole! It took you hours after you first phased to calm down!" Leah snarled. "You're just pissed that Seth smells like Swan kitty, fuckhead! If you thought with your brain instead of your dick, we wouldn't be stuck here like fucking flies on flypaper!"

Bella giggled involuntarily, clapping a hand over her mouth and apologizing with her eyes for laughing at the worst possible time.

I shrugged, unconcerned. Leah didn't say anything that wasn't true.

She kept her eyes trained on me, taking a deep, resetting breath before she curled into the circle of my arms.

I wasn't clear on why_**I**_ wasn't still pinned to the wall along with my brothers, but questions would have to wait. Our mate needed us.

I wrapped one arm low around her waist, and used the other to brush the hair away from her throat. She was still shaking, so I nipped gently at her mark like I would to steady one of the pups in a stressful situation by nipping at an ear or flank. As soon as my teeth came in contact with the mark, she slumped against me in submission and sobbed, exhausted and overwrought.

I heard a thump and Paul grumbled, "Fuck!" as he hit the floor.

I chuckled. _Fucker._ _No less than he deserved._

The atmosphere in the room lightened as the oppressive tension dissipated and my brothers and sister began to move.

Bella peeked out at the others from the protective circle of my arms.

Embry kicked the pieces of broken chair he'd been sitting on, trying to hide his grin, "Okay, new rule; nobody pisses off Bella inside the house."

* * *

(Still) Seth POV

I sat in the backyard watching Bella, far from the house. Sam had sent Emily and Kim over to Old Quil's house to 'let him know what happened', but I suspected it was more about getting them away from the dangerous, unstable 'whatever' they perceived Bella to be now.

Leah had dug out one of the ugly t-shirt dresses that she had gotten in the habit of keeping on hand at each pack member's house in case of a shredding emergency like Bella's this evening. Leah was tall, so the dresses were barely modest for her, covering just enough to allow her to sneak home for more clothes or cover up temporarily for a meal. On Bella, the dress was knee-length and modest enough to make her comfortable enough without panties for the time being.

Bella was pacing, agitated. It was ramping up my wolf, making him edgy.

She muttered, walking a long path back and forth like a caged animal along the tree line as the compression bubble around her came and went, surging outward and dissipating or, occasionally, being pulled back in if she noticed and tried to control it.

We waited for my brothers to remove the debris from the living room and calm Jacob down. After twenty minutes or so, the pack began to trickle out the back door, taking up places and watching Bella with curiosity as she concentrated on the force field or whatever it was.

I could see when something clicked, an epiphany of some kind lighting up her features. She tuned us out, focusing instead on the field that emerged around her as the bubble compressed with a pop, much quieter than the savage sonic booms that ripped through the house earlier, and moved slowly outward. She already had more control than a newly-phased wolf.

I grinned, pleased for her.

Sam cleared his throat like he was going to speak, but I cut him off, "No, not yet. Let's give her a few more minutes. She's already making progress without interference. She might be able to get through a conversation before the night is over without destroying half of the forest."

Chuckles erupted around us.

We watched her manipulate the field or shield or, fuck, I didn't know what to call it. She seemed to have an easier time manipulating it if she pretended to use her hands, imagining it flexing under the pressure of her fingers, flattening it with her fingertips, molding it with her thumbs.

She turned to Sam suddenly, "Do you have a tennis ball?"

Quil piped up, "Why? You wanna play fetch with Sethy next?"

She raised her upper lip at him in a snarl and flung a hand in his direction, pushing the field toward him, knocking him backwards out of the chair.

I laughed, because, fuck, that shit was handy. I had to admit, I was the tiniest little bit jealous. Like being a super human werewolf wasn't cool all on its own.

Paul was just curious enough to see what else she could do, so he offered to go look for a ball, running up the back porch steps past a muttering, pacing Jacob. He stopped occasionally to glare at us across the yard, but the pack had placed themselves strategically in between us and him to avoid a repeat performance of Jacob's tantrum and Bella's punishment.

Paul emerged a few moments later, triumphantly holding up a can of tennis balls and a baseball.

He handed them over to me. No one else was quite brave enough to approach her yet.

"What do you want to do, babe?" I asked, trotting over to her and offering her the selection found by Paul.

"Experiment," she said, a sunny smile gracing her pretty face.

"That's my girl," I said proudly, kissing her quickly and throwing and arm over her shoulder as I turned to look at the pack with a wicked grin. "Who's the first guinea pig?"

"You are," she answered.

"Okay," I agreed. "I trust you. What do you want me to do? You gonna throw 'em at me, see if you can stop them in time?"

"Nope," she shook her head. "You're throwing them at me."

The wolf grumbled in protest.

"They're tennis balls, babe. Even if they hit me, the worst they'll do is bounce," she rolled her eyes. "One at a time to start."

I backed up about 40 feet until she told me to stop. She pulled the field in then ordered, "On the count of 'three'. Ready? One, two-"

I threw it before 'three' anyway to keep her on her toes.

She threw a hand up, stopping the ball about five feet away. Not bad.

"Again," she ordered. "No 'three' count."

I held two balls, one in each hand, I drew back my right, my throwing arm, as a distraction, and launched the ball in my left hand instead. She stopped it, frozen in mid-air about 8 feet away. Focusing on the ball, she drew the field in and plucked the ball out of it, holding it up with a sassy grin. "Not bad, huh?"

She threw the first two balls back, "Okay, need two more volunteers. Quil? Embry?"

"Sure, sure," they agreed, coming to stand beside me. They each took a tennis ball.

"Okay, spread out," she instructed, placing us in a sixty foot wide circle around her, just about the breadth and depth of Sam's entire backyard. She spaced us at intervals of thirds around the circle. "Do you think you can time it to throw them all at the same time without counting out loud?"

We looked at each other, nodding in silent agreement. I answered, "Sure. You just want us to throw them all at the same time?"

"Yup, as hard as you can," she answered.

I raised an eyebrow at that. "You need a minute?" I asked.

"Nope, I'm good," she said, holding her arms out to the sides and bracing herself. I watched the bubble form sketchily around her and looked at my brothers, nodding at them almost imperceptibly.

We all wound up and heaved our little yellow missiles at the same time just as Bella unleashed the unholy fucking terror we'd first witnessed in the house. The balls came ricocheting back at us at twice the speed we'd loosed them, the field surging forward behind them in a wall of blurred, intangible destruction.

Embry and Quil ducked and braced.

I smiled.

The ball stopped an inch from the end of my nose and dropped.

She fucking giggled, clapping that tiny hand over her mouth in delight.

My brothers clapped. Except Embry and Quil. Pretty sure they needed a change of shorts.

"Okay, okay. Two more, then we're done playing. Uncle Quil will want to test my limits more later anyway," she admitted. "Need another volunteer," hands shot into the air, "to throw a ball at your face."

All the hands but one dropped. Fucking Lahote.

Paul stood, swaggering across the yard to stand in front of my mate, "Where you want me, Swan?"

"Ew. How about never and anywhere but right here, creeper?"

He laughed, "You're not as lame as I thought, leech-fucker-"

Famous last words.

She launched his ass across the yard on the leading edge of the tidal wave of her fury.

I called out, "Bells?"

She dropped him.

"Fuck!" he thumped to the ground at the base of a tree she nearly took out with his flailing carcass.

"Sorry, honey," she did at least _look_ contrite.

"Maybe that's enough for today?" I asked. "We still need to . . ." I cocked my head at Jacob.

"Yeah, okay. I'm okay, you guys. I mean, I don't know what this is, but I seem to have some control over it."

Sam piped up, "You'll still need to stay away from humans for a while until you have total control, just like a new wolf. We can't take chances and we don't know if the Alpha command will work on marked mates. It has no effect on imprints, so . . . Can you take some time off from school?"

"Seth and I had already decided we couldn't be apart after," she cleared her throat, "after the marking. It's too difficult. I have an internship to complete, but I can do that in Forks or Port A. I can have my roommate pack up and ship home my things."

"Home? You're moving back to Charlie's?" Jacob asked, drawing closer.

She looked up at him from beneath her lashes and shook her head.

"We were thinking she'd stay with me here on the rez while we look for our own place," I explained, taking a seat at one of the picnic tables and holding a hand out for her to join me.

She sat with her back to my chest, straddling the bench.

"But that's dumb," Leah scoffed. "Mom's never home anyway. She's always at Charlie's. You guys should move into the house. We can clean out that old apartment over the garage and I'll move out there. I'll need some space anyway if you guys are going to be 'honeymooning' for weeks while Bella learns control. God only knows what the hell you'll do to the house while you're figuring that shit out." She snickered.

"So that's it? You're just going to move in together and start _playing house_?" Jacob sneered, looming over us.

Bella sighed and stood, "It's time we put this shit to rest. Jacob, if I was meant to be yours, you never could have prevented your wolf from marking me if he wanted to. It's just further proof that I'm not the one for you. I'm Seth's mate. This is a done deal."

Jacob tuned out the last part, "No, Bells. I didn't mark you because _I _wouldn't let the wolf. I am not a monster and I proved it every time I didn't mark you. He doesn't control me. I never _wanted_ this! All I ever wanted was _you_."

Bella sighed softly and said sadly, "We don't always get what we want. Sometimes the spirits give us what we need instead. You needed a sister in me - not a lover, not a mate. The blatant contempt you hold in your heart for what you are inside is one of the reasons I could never love you the way you wanted, Jacob. You can't even find it within you to love yourself. You fight the wolf too hard. You reject _the Alpha wolf_. You reject your birthright at every turn! It has to stop! You need to accept him or you'll find yourself with an imprint you don't wan-."

**Bella POV**

Jacob's eyes turned stormy, the soft brown I loved so much blown out by the wolf's incandescent gold as Jacob's bones slowly, tortuously lengthened, tendons straining, sinews crackling, teeth elongating in a way that none of us had ever seen as Jacob partially-phased in slow motion, leaning forward to breath down my neck, "You think I'm not _one_ with my wolf, Bells?" he growled.

For the first time since he phased, Jacob truly looked monstrous to me.

I felt my heart break. I had done this to him, me and the wolf.

Somehow I managed not to shudder, not to flinch or show fear.

With a low, menacing growl, Seth stood, stepping around me, placing himself between mate and Alpha, "Back. Off. Jake. Right the fuck now. I didn't take anything from her _or you_. Certainly nothing that was yours to lose in the first place, Jacob. She gave my wolf permission to mark her."

Jacob snarled inches from Seth's face, spittle flying between them as they panted and stared each other down. The force field flickered around me as my instincts screamed at me to protect my mate and my Alpha from each other.

"SHUT UP, SETH!" everyone shouted, watching the bubble expand around me.

I tugged his hand to get his attention again, "Babe?"

"Bells, not now," Seth muttered between clenched teeth. "If anybody's taking the blame for this, it's me and the wolf."

"Damn it, Seth! Move!" I planted my feet and used Seth's own weight for leverage like I was taught, knocking him off balance enough to step around him as Jake pulled his fist back to swing at my mate.

Paul and Embry rushed Jacob. The pack gasped in horror, but I didn't flinch. I let the bubble expand around Jacob and I, keeping the pack out, keeping my terrified mate out. I felt his terror, but this had to be done.

I met Jake's eyes for the briefest of seconds, quickly pulled my hair away from the twin crescent wounds at my throat, lowered my eyes in submission, and stepped into my angry Alpha's space, prepared to take the hit meant for my beloved mate and, with a whispered, "Alpha," I irrevocably altered the pack structure forever.

Jacob's fist stopped millimeters from my face. I felt the air move at my temple as he reacted just in the nick of time. His hand dropped to my shoulder as I got close enough for him to scent me.

Drawing in my new, irresistible scent over his tongue, it overwhelmed his senses with the heretofore unknown pleasure that was a marked packmate. Jacob reared back, stumbling, desperately seeking purchase as the Awakening of our Alpha finally began.

**Jacob POV**

I reeled at the onslaught of information. Drawing in Bella's scent, the scent of marked female packmate, was the key. That key opened a door I had no idea existed before this moment. Through it poured a cascade of information; the knowledge of past Alpha Chiefs, their mates, battles won, strategies, vampires, their gifts, other supernatural creatures and how to detect them, the ancient history of the tribe, and a new awareness of every member of the tribe who has ever lived, every piece of land they'd ever trod, every enemy ever vanquished, every joy ever celebrated, every loss ever mourned, every love ever returned. Everything. Because of Bella.

Best friend.

First love.

Lost love.

Packmate.

Family.

Sister.

Best friend.

Bella.

**Bella POV**

He staggered under the weight of what I had just done, how I had just changed _everything_. I saw it in his eyes, the possession of millennia of information; trying to sort, catalog, process, and make sense of it. It would take days and the human would suffer through yet another trial while the wolf brought the human closer to his destiny. I was sorry for it, but it was the price asked by the spirits. I was willing to pay my dues. I knew Jacob had to step up and pay his.

The room stood still; every wolf held his breath, waiting for their Alpha's verdict . . . or sentence. Jake moved even closer and leaned in cautiously, warier now of the newly-mated wolf watching carefully over my shoulder and growling low, just enough for me to hear. He ran his nose from my shoulder to my ear, scenting me without touching anywhere but my upper arms as he drew me forward.

He open his eyes, the gold ring around his irises flashed solid, pupils blown, he whispered in my ear, "Do you realize what you've done? You've changed . . . _everything_."

I looked up into his eyes and nodded solemnly, "I did what I thought was best for the pack, Jacob. You understand?"

"I do, now, yes," he gazed deeply into my eyes one final time before looking over my shoulder to Seth. "Did she explain it to you? Did you know?"

"We'd talked about trying to stay together, how many obstacles there have been, so after the marking, yes, she explained what they meant - the crucible," Seth nodded slowly.

Jacob's face showed his outrage. He turned to snap at me, presumably for withholding it from Seth until _after_ the marking, but Seth interceded again, "I'd have done it eventually anyway. She's it for me. I made this decision, too. Me and my wolf. We're content for the first time since I phased."

"Content," he snorted. "I envy you that. Have you told your mother yet?"

"No. It just happened. I think she knew it was coming. She knew we were dating, obviously. We'd planned to tell you first, sometime this week, then Mom, if it was acceptable to you for others outside the pack to know," Seth explained, tucking an arm around my waist.

"Go ahead and tell her, Seth. Leah, too. We'll talk about it, you and me, before we go before the Elders," he let go of me, raising his voice for the benefit of the rest of the pack. "We'll do the pack meeting tomorrow afternoon. More pressing matters need to be seen to first. Embry, you're with me."

Embry moved to the tree line to wait for Jake. Before he left, Jake clasped forearms with Seth and pressed a kiss to my forehead, "Breakfast tomorrow? My house? We need to talk first, just the three of us."

"Okay," I whispered, leaning back into Seth as he wrapped his arms around my middle, then started as I remembered my original plans for Saturday. "Shit, early, we'll have to do it early. I have- a thing with my dad tomorrow for a few hours, late morning. Some graduation requirements to take care of. Fuck. I'll have to cancel that until I have more control, won't I? "

"Your dad's administering your final proficiency?" Seth asked under his breath.

"The tacticals, yeah," I breathed in response, hoping no one would ask.

Seth chuckled.

Jake looked at me curiously, but let it go, for now.

"Only your mom and Leah, no one else before the pack meeting tomorrow," he warned Seth.

"No problem," Seth promised. "Why don't you come have breakfast with us instead, after patrols in the morning?"

"Yeah, that's better," Jake hugged me gently, scenting me delicately one last time, checking for other unseen injuries as was his responsibility now.

He whispered into my ear, just loud enough for me and Seth to hear, "There's a whiff of blood, honey, just a trace, another source besides your mark. You're sure you're okay?"

I blushed, feeling the heat creep up my neck, and explained as quietly as I could, "We bled each other, um, _during_, you know? It was part of the claiming ritual."

Jake nodded solemnly, trying to keep the corner of his mouth from twitching up in a half-grin.

"You'll see to that at home, Seth," he ordered quietly. "She doesn't heal as fast as you."

"You got it, boss," Seth said, tightening his arms around my waist..

"You got the rest of the week off, kid. Spend time settling in with . . . your- your girl, take care of her. I'll take your patrols, my way of beginning to apologize. Okay?" Jacob asked us both, seeking our pardon.

"What about Billy?" I asked. "Won't he need you, too? You can't just take extra patrols, Jacob. We know you have responsibilities. I could-"

"No," Leah interrupted. "I'll do that."

Jacob nodded, "Thanks, Lee. Pack a bag. You can crash in the twins' old room until we can come over to help you clear out the apartment over the garage."

"I'll help out with Billy, too, Jake," Paul offered. "I'll take a couple of Seth's patrols, too. It's not like anybody is going to miss me at home."

Seth and I shared a knowing look. Stepping up to new responsibilities was one of the early signs of the marking crucible. My breath hitched a little when I thought over Paul's words. _That makes me so sad for him, honey. We should have him over for dinner. He needs family._

Seth nodded in silent response.

"Thank you for that, Paul. We'd like it if you join us for dinner or breakfast, before or after your patrol, whatever works for you? You, too, Jacob, Leah."

"Yeah, I'd like that," Jacob answered.

"Sure, sure," Leah snarked, smirking at their Alpha. He tapped her on the nose in reprimand.

With a final assessing look at me, Jake left, clapping Embry on the arm and jogging out into the inky dark of the night forest.

Seth and I turned to bid goodnight to the rest of the pack, but before they could speak, Paul was shaking his head, demanding to know, "So, what the fuck just happened here?"

✫.¸¸ . ✶*¨*. ¸ .✫*¨*.¸¸.✶*¨'*✫


	5. Ch 6 - Breaking It to Leah

A/N:_I had a whole long author's note planned about all the smut that was going to be in this chapter, but NOPE! It'll be in the next, mostly. Of course I gave you a little lemony goodness to tide you over in the mean time. You. Are. Welcome.  
_

_This chapter is a great big info dump and I do apologize for doing it this way, but I think you'll agree that this is better than having to read flashbacks about Bella reading ancient texts in Quileute to convey the same information. Leah had to be told and this way we get to see her reactions. It's a shortcut and, yes, I took it. So sue me. I know the language is really dense in a couple of paragraphs and I am sorry for that. I can't tell you how much I struggled with this chapter. I hope it was worth the wait and that I'm forgiven when you get to the related smut. Enjoy the show, my lovelies!_

**Pre-Readers: madmamabear, SuperGirl-Gem, MP, and SparklingFae all lend a hand with different aspects of this story, so I'm calling them all pre-readers to give credit where it's due. However, none of them have seen most of this chapter because I've been swearing over it for days, so none of this shit is their fault if you hate it. Don't blame them for my crap. They are goddesses and should be treated as such.**

**No Beta, so all errors are entirely and unfortunately mine.**

**Epitheteer: Johnnyhandro**

**Banner Made By Mist**

**Rating**: **MA, for grown up cussin' and public lovin'.**

**Disclaimer:** SM owns. Too bad she doesn't love the wolves like I do or she'd be writing this little ditty for our boy Seth. So you're stuck with me. Suck it up, buttercup.

* * *

✫.¸¸ . ✶*¨*. ¸ .✫*¨*.¸¸.✶*¨'*✫

**Chapter 6 - Breaking It to Leah **

**Seth POV**

"I couldn't say," I answered Paul. "Do you mean the changes in Bella or her standing up to Jake?"

"Do you hear that?" Bella suddenly interrupted - at the best possible time.

Heads cocked, listening for whatever Bella's new senses had picked up before all of us.

"What is it?" I asked, running a hand gently down her arm.

"That little beeping sound. It's so . . . irritating," she gnashed her teeth as the force field bubble formed around her and popped gently when she composed herself with a calming deep breath. I rubbed her arm a few more times and she settled.

"It takes some getting used to," Jared explained.

She looked at him, head tilted in confusion. It was cute, the way she'd picked up so many mannerisms of the pack so quickly after the marking. She was becoming more wolf-like with each passing hour.

"The enhanced wolf hearing," he went on. "Stuff that never bothered you before will be like nails on a chalkboard now. Things that drove you crazy before will barely register after your . . . er, phase. It's a little different for everyone."

I listened for the sound that caught her attention. "I think it's your phone. Did you leave it in the truck?" I asked.

"Umm, in the glove compartment, I think. I threw it in there after I texted Jake and Embry earlier, remember?"

I chuckled, "Yeah. I'll go grab it. It might be important."

"That's okay, I'll get it while you finish up here," she kissed me on the cheek and dashed across the yard to the gate, letting herself out of the garden without passing through the house again. Probably for the best. The house was in pretty rough shape. Another mini tantrum could have leveled it.

Quil cocked his head, "Did you see that? She didn't fall even once. She didn't even stumble. Bella trips over _air_!" He looked at me accusingly, growling, "_What did you do to my cousin?_"

Oh, sure,_ now_ she's his cousin. I rolled my eyes.

Paul opened his mouth again.

"Wait," I ordered, holding off Paul with a raised hand until I heard her check her messages and dial to return the call she missed. I just wanted to make sure there was no emergency before I got back into it with Paul.

Her voice drifted from the front yard when she connected, "Hey, Haze? What's up? There's like thirty missed messages and texts on my phone."

"Oh. Mah. Gaw. Pele, are you okay? I've been trying to reach you for, like, ever. My brothers are going nuts because you didn't answer your phone and _what the hell_ happened to you earlier? Are you having anxiety attacks ag-"

"Shh! Haze . . . this isn't the best time to be having this conversation," she whispered, moving away from the truck for more privacy, "Listen, I need to ask a favor, you know how I was planning to just come home to visit for the long weekend?"

"Yeah? Change of plans after running into your hometown hottie?" her friend teased.

Bella snorted a laugh, "Yeah, you could say that. I'm staying. With Seth. Would you mind crating up my stuff and shipping it? Or I could hire some movers . . .?"

"Movers? No way, cousin. I'll take care of it, me and the bruddahs. Where'm I shippin' all of it?"

"La Push, the Quileute Nation Tribal Reservation, 22 Taxi Lits Road . . . " her voice drifted as she rattled off my- _our_ home address as she moved out of hearing range.

Paul huffed in annoyance at being kept waiting. My hackles rose, the wolf and I incensed at the blatant disrespect.

Paul continued as if he hadn't been interrupted, though, still thinking of me as one of the pups, "Dude, did you not see what we saw? Jake went from snarling and ready to cut your balls off to Mr.-fucking-Rogers in a couple of seconds because he sniffed your little freak show girl. What the fuck do you _think_ I'm asking about?"

I couldn't hold back the savage snarl at his disrespect for my mate. Bella was _not_ a freak.

The pack took a collective step in retreat.

Jake had also made it clear that we were not to discuss what we knew with the pack until he gave the okay, except for Leah and Mom. I'd have to tread carefully here, "It's been a busy day, Lahote. Lots of stuff happening, you know?"

"And?" he demanded.

"And, what? Jake ordered us to keep our mouths shut until he's ready to discuss this. If you'll excuse us, we need to speak to my mother and sister. We'll see you all tomorrow," and with that, I effectively dismissed Paul's questions and the rest of the pack. "Lee? You want to ride home with us to pack some stuff to go stay with Billy?"

Leah just stared back at me, nonplussed, "Umm . . . yeah, I guess so." She picked her way across the yard to join me and we retreated to Bella's truck where Bella stood waiting, no longer on the phone.

"I'll meet you over there, _Lee_!" Paul called out behind us. Bastard just had to get the last word. He didn't know it yet, but a reckoning was coming. His standing in the pack had already changed. I looked forward to that meeting even more after speaking to Paul.

I helped Bella into the truck on the driver's side, knowing she'd wanted to stick close to me after the emotional upheaval with the pack. I took a deep draught of her scent, opening my mouth so I could pull the creamy orange blossom honey scent over my tongue as well. Fuck, she smelled amazing. She always had, but there was something extra to it now. Some little bonus that developed as a result of the marking that made her scent more exaggerated, the orange blossom scent more prominent, the honeyed scent, sweeter, that nebulous, underlying creamy scent stronger, more like the rich, sweetness of straight cream. Everything about her was just _more_. My wolf wanted to fucking roll in it.

The wolf veritably purred at the thought of marking up our den with her scent, rubbing it all over every fucking thing so that we could loll in it, wallow in the immersive, overwhelming cloud of her ambrosial pheromones. We wanted her scent so thick in our den that it hung in the air like a cloud. _That_ is how we would be spending our unexpected time off together, I decided, and my wolf was all for that. Now we just had to convince _her_ to help us mark our space. I didn't think she would put up much resistance. Bells was always game to cater to the wolf's needs. Since the marking, our needs had become more synchronous; our wants, the same.

Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I looked over at Leah. I thought she might hop in the back since she seemed so uncertain, her wolf on edge, but she climbed into the passenger seat and sat quietly while I started up the truck and backed down the drive. She was quiet on the way home and it was then that I noticed her bizarre behavior toward Bella.

I glanced at her a few times, but she never looked at me and she never once glanced at Bella or looked her or me in the eye. She kept her head tucked into her chest. She didn't fidget or stare out the window and daydream. She just sat there, occasionally closing her eyes and breathing deeply. I thought she might be trying to acclimate to our new combined scents. Being marked meant Bella's own natural scent had changed drastically, my scent added to the mix as well as a chemical change in pheromones and hormones that all of us could easily detect. She smelled really fucking delicious. I couldn't blame Leah for taking pleasure in my mate's new scent. She smelled incredible. To a wolf, other than myself, I imagined she still smelled awesome, like pack and home and warm, comfortable things. She'd always smelled like that to me, though.

* * *

**Leah POV**

We climbed the steps to the front porch in silence, standing together awkwardly for a moment before Bella spoke up, "Leah, there's something we need to talk to you about, something that Jake made it very clear we were to discuss with you first before the rest of the pack finds out. I believe I know why and I think it would be best if we do that outside, just in case." She pointed to the porch swing, indicating that we should sit.

"In case, what?" I asked suspiciously.

"In case it pisses you off and you phase," Seth said bluntly. "You have every right to be pissed. Neither of us will judge you for losing it if that happens."

Bella made herself comfortable on the swing and indicated that I should sit next to her, not a hint of fear in her eyes that I might phase if I sat so close. I suppose she didn't have to worry much about that anymore.

Seth took a seat on an old rusted rocking glider nearby and waited.

I sat gingerly beside Bella, but kept my distance. She noticed. She swung her legs up on the seat on the other side of her body to tuck them beneath her and my wolf settled. Bella understood body language so well. How had I never noticed that before? She could read us so easily and adapt to the wolves' needs so readily, like it came naturally to her. _That_ was not a result of the marking. She'd always seemed almost unnaturally self-possessed when it came to things like that, but when it came to not tripping over something deadly, all the grace of her body language went out the window. Like she was sharing her body with two entities and one was this graceful creature and the other was the clutz. Something to file away and ask about later.

"What's going on? Is this about the marking? Because I got a really clear picture of what all happened earlier. I don't know how you could just let Jake walk away after what he did to the two of you," I muttered, still not quite able to look either of them in the eye.

"There are things at stake here, Lee; things that are bigger than both of us. We have to focus on _them_ now," Seth explained. "Besides, Bella can take care of herself. She doesn't need me to fight all her battles for her. She did what needed to be done. I won't question her decision not to retaliate against our Alpha."

"Maybe you haven't noticed, but I can't exactly come right out and question her either. It's like my wolf is muzzling me and I don't even know why!" I worried, fidgeting in my seat, eyes trained on the floor.

Seth hurried to explain, "My status in the pack changed when I marked Bella. Marking a mate means something significant to shape-shifters like us. I don't entirely understand it, but Jake and Bella seem to." He looked to Bella, asking her silently to say her part.

"When Seth marked me, he fulfilled a role in the pack that is not spoken of and is very rarely ever even written about. It took Uncle Quil and I almost a year to find it and it's only written of in ancient Quileute in three instances in journals that were written more than 2,000 years ago. Usually, the first mate in any pack is marked by an Alpha. Sometimes, if the human Alpha spirit is very strong, he fights the wolf spirit for dominance and questions the wolf's motives like not wanting to bite a human woman because his sense of his morality is so strong, his humanity too great to succumb to the wolf's instincts."

"Jake . . . " I whispered.

"Yes," she nodded. "Jake will be a very great Alpha-Chief because _he_ will lead the Alpha wolf spirit instead of being led blindly by the wolf spirit and instinct alone, but the battle between them has been going on for a very long time and it was becoming dangerous. His wolf spirit was in danger of destabilizing Jake's mind and possessing him, shoving Jake out and just going wolf. That would have had disastrous consequences for the pack and the tribe."

"Lone wolf," Seth muttered with a shudder as if that explained it all.

Bella tried to explain, "We believe the spirits chose to intervene by having Seth and his wolf mark me. Seth had to earn the gift of choosing his mate, though, by proving his strength of mind and character as a warrior and mate. The first mating mark in any generation is physical proof to the spirits that there is at least one wolf strong enough to lead the pack without risk of possession by the wolf spirit. It's a delicate balance. This is a means the spirits use to counter-balance instability in the pack. My marking opened a door of sorts, a line of communication between Jake's Alpha wolf spirit and the realm where the wolf spirits wait to be called upon where they reside until they are needed. He had to scent me, scent the completion of the marking by a wolf for the spirits to grant him access to the knowledge of the other Alpha spirits. Jake doesn't have the stabilizing influence of a mate to help him through processing all that information, though, so if we thought he was on the verge of crazy before . . ."

"We're in for a rough ride for a while," I muttered in understanding.

She nodded, "Jake will need his pack now more than ever. The essence of the spirits of past Alpha-Chiefs are retained by the Alpha wolf spirits in much the same way that Seth's wolf retains the memories and experiences of the past warriors he has inhabited. In this way, no warrior's experience is ever lost to the tribe. It only makes us stronger. Unless . . . " she quieted, drifting off uncertainly as she watched me carefully, then looked to Seth for assistance.

"Unless the warrior himself isn't strong enough to contain the wolf spirit. Some men are just not meant to be warriors. They're not necessarily weaker, just not warriors. When that happens, the wolf tests the man, to see if he can be groomed into a warrior. The wolf sets a nearly irresistible lure for the man, an obstacle similar to the ritual challenges faced by those going through the marking crucible- "

"Marking crucible?" I asked. This was a term I'd never heard discussed by the Elders before. My head was spinning with all the new information.

"We'll explain that later, too," Bella answered quickly.

Seth continued as if I'd never interrupted, "-and if the man can overcome the challenge, the wolf spirit will remain with him. If the man succumbs to the test - the lure used by the wolf - if he fails to put pack and tribe first, the wolf spirit moves on to find a more worthy warrior spirit to inhabit to protect the tribe."

What they were saying began to ring a dim bell. I started to shake when I realized what they were hinting at and why it might upset me, but I had to ask anyway, "What is the challenge - the test or whatever it is that the wolf gives the man?"

"An imprint," Bella whispered.

Seth sat up a little straighter, perched on the edge of his seat, ready to step in if he had to keep me from phasing on top of his mate.

It was a very near thing, but I swallowed my anger and choked out my initial reaction, "An imprint? I thought- We've always been told- The Elders said an imprint was a gift, not a test. Nobody ever even hinted at it." I shook my head, trying to understand. All this time I'd been wishing to imprint to heal my battered and broken heart only to discover that it was a sign of weakness? I couldn't wrap my head around it.

"Explain it to me," I demanded, "like I'm _really_ fucking stupid, okay? Spell it all out. How do you know? Who figured this out?"

"Me, I did," Bella said apologetically, like it was her fault the Elders were a bunch of dumb, clueless shits out to ruin our lives. "Uncle Quil, Billy, and I have been digging through the ancient journals left by previous packs to find more information about imprinting-"

"Billy? Billy did this behind Jake's back? He knew about you and Seth?" I was shocked.

"He did. I went to him with my concerns about Jake's instability, told him about how the wolf would surface and take over sometimes, stalk me like prey if he caught me alone in one of Jake's weaker moments. Billy was scared. He knew we needed to know more. He approved of my relationship with Seth when he discovered the love was mutual, unlike the lopsided friendship I had with Jake at the time. Jake is my brother, for all intents and purposes, and always has been as far as I'm concerned. His interest was misplaced, confused by the emergence of the wolf and the wolf trying to interpret the man's - his warrior spirit's needs. We _did_ ask Billy for his blessing and his advice. We never wanted to undermine his or Jake's authority by keeping secrets from the pack, but we had to do what was right for us _and_ the pack. Waiting until Jake lost control and his wolf raped and marked me against my will would not have best served the pack. It could have torn it apart," she said, being brutally honest in her assessment of the situation. Her matter-of-fact attitude about potentially being raped by her best friend's spirit wolf was disturbing to say the least. "Billy gave us his blessing before we ever went out on a single date, Leah. We didn't just dive blindly into this, I swear."

My wolf rumbled in displeasure at the danger our sister had been subjected to, "It was that bad? With Jake? Bella, if you had just told me . . ."

"I had Seth to protect me," she assured me with a newly-acquired quiet serenity, stroking my hand in reassurance, instinctually soothing my wolf as she turned to me and laid her head to the side, resting her temple on the back of the swing and baring her neck in lupine submission to ease my wolf further, "and an unwitting helper in Embry. Seth taught me how to deal with Jake to discourage his wolf. He came up with the stinky Jake repellant idea and used himself and other wolves unknowingly as buffers between Jake and I while I tried to figure out what to do to help him. We both had a part to play in fulfilling our destiny together and we still had the imprinting issue between us. We needed those answers."

"And you found them?" I asked.

"Yes. This is- It's going to be hard for you to hear because you got fucked over the worst by phasing and imprinting, but - I swear - it's actually a good thing," Bella promised. "Leah, I know this is a lot to take in all at once, but stick with me, please?"

I nodded to encourage her to continue, touching her hand in reassurance this time, "I asked you to spell it all out. I want that. Lay it all out so I can see the whole thing."

She took a deep breath and dove in, "Imprinting is a weakness, not a reward like the Elders believed based on a few journals they originally found after Sam phased that were written by imprinted wolves in more recent times. It's the wolf's way of forcing the warrior to retire because the man isn't strong enough to share his mind and body with the wolf. Man and wolf must live in concert. If one is imbalanced, both are. The wolf recognizes it even if the man doesn't. The imprint is the wolf's final test. If the man can overcome the imprint, he's strong enough for the wolf to remain. If the man caves to the imprint, softens, puts her needs above the pack or the tribe, the wolf goes and the imprint is the man's consolation. She makes it easier for the man to part with the wolf. It's a kindness on the part of the spirits. The wolf can move on to a more worthy vessel and the man doesn't go through withdrawal longing for the wolf. The imprint fills the void left by the wolf when he goes. You may have noticed, Sam and Jared are already talking about retiring so they can age with their imprints. Here's where things get even more complicated and where I'd be fursploding if I were in your shoes. A marked mate ages _with_ her wolf. He'll imprint eventually on the mate he chose to mark when it's time for him to retire, too, when the tribe no longer needs wolves. Then, they'll age together. Their imprint will be by choice, but it will serve a similar purpose; it will make it less painful to part with his wolf when the time comes."

I was speechless. My mind reeled. Emily, _my cousin Emily_, was a test for Sam. He could have fought the imprint, but didn't. Just when I thought my heart couldn't break anymore, I found out that Sam did have a choice, but my own father and other trusted Elders led him to believe that there _was_ no choice. The Council of Elders ran with the wrong information and it cost me the love of my life, my happiness. Tears pooled in my eyes and my throat closed up.

"Leah," Bella's voice was laced with concern. "I know it feels like the end of the world right now, the last nail in your coffin, but it's not. This proves more than just that Sam is a dick."

That surprised a snicker out of me.

"It proves that you're stronger, you and your wolf, than the man who led the pack as Alpha until the true Alpha came of age. You're a true warrior. You haven't imprinted. It's proof that _Sam_ wasn't good enough for _you_, not the other way around" Bella said with finality. "It's proof that you have a choice. You don't have to avoid relationships or remain alone for fear of breaking someone's heart some day. You can have it all," she said with a smile in her voice.

I snorted, "Yeah, everything, except children."

"You can have that, too," she replied.

My gaze snapped up to hers, "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Seth growled in warning.

I flipped him off.

"The whole point of choosing a mate is making stronger wolves and a stronger pack with the one you love. If you weren't meant to have a mate and children, you'd have imprinted and your wolf spirit would have moved on long ago."

"Wait, are you saying that Emily and Kim . . . ?"

She nodded, "Probably barren since they became imprints, to prevent Sam and Jared from passing down inferior wolf genes. It's the reason the pool of families with the wolf gene has remained so small over the years. Imprinting has winnowed down the carriers to the strongest of the strong Elder family lines."

"So the reason Seth marked you...?"

She seemed more confident of this answer, "He's the strongest wolf in this generation besides our Alpha, as it stands now. The two of you both have three lines of descent from the last wolf pack thanks to your mother. Even Jake only has two lines of descent, but he's got like super blue blood as the son of the chief and from being descended from all those other chiefs and Alpha-Chiefs, so just two lines of descent is more than enough for him. Seth's wolf has made it abundantly clear that he is Beta now. He was able to issue Beta orders to Embry earlier when he was spying on us. I'm guessing there's a good chance you'll be next to mark your mate because you share the same bloodlines as Seth."

"The Beta thing makes sense. My wolf is suddenly strangely submissive to Seth. That's going to take some getting used to. She's also responding the same way to you, though, and I don't get that," I shook my head in confusion.

"We think Bella might have become the pack's Alpha female until Jake finds and marks _his_ mate," Seth offered by way of explanation.

That did make some sense and it took all the pressure off of me to be something I wasn't. Bella would be good at mothering them. She'd taken care of everyone her entire life, according to Mom. Bella was custom made by the spirits to be Alpha female.

"So . . . where do I go from here?" I wondered out loud. It sounded like trying to give up my wolf might lead to imprinting if I wasn't careful, and imprinting would mean no kids, so . . . Shit, I was still stuck being a fucking wolf!

I said as much to Seth and Bella.

Bella sighed.

"Is that your gift? Always finding the worst in every situation?" she asked, exasperated, throwing her hands in the air.

I caught Seth trying not the smile.

I growled.

"I do not!" I insisted.

"I'm calling bullshit. You just did! You're not _stuck_ with your wolf spirit! She's a gift! She allows you to protect your tribe's way of life, your heritage. She makes you strong, the only female warrior in your pack-"

"Not anymore," I muttered.

"No," Bella shook her head. "That's not true. I'm not a warrior. I'm a marked mate. I have my role to play. I can defend myself, my pack, my mate, and, spirits willing, my children someday if I have to, but I'm no Quileute warrior."

"Are you sure about that?" I asked. "Why would you be given the strength, speed, improved wolf senses, and that force field thing if you were only meant to play the role of shield between the pack and the things we fight? We don't need a shield. We're offensive players in the fight against the vamps. Why would we need a shield?"

"Shield?" she asked, disconcerted.

"It's what you do now. You used it as a barrier to keep the rest of us out when Jake scented you at the pack meeting. It's defensive, but it's not your _only_ weapon. We saw through the pack mind what you can do. You clocked Embry like a playground bully on steroids. We pound on each other all the time, sometimes in real anger and none of us has ever taken a hit like that before from another wolf. You beat Embry like a fucking champ."

"I never meant to hurt Embry. I didn't even realize I'd done it until I after I broke his rib-"

"You broke one of his ribs?" I couldn't help smiling.

She cleared her throat, "Could we not dwell on my mistakes right now?"

I snickered, "Sure, sure."

Seth's face turned serious, "Leah, what do you want for yourself? Is escaping the rez enough? Is that all you want? Or do you want more from your life?"

"I- I just want to be happy. I want the option to have children someday, even if I'm not ready for them now. I just want options," I said, feeling a little defeated. Giving up the wolf could mean giving up the freedom of choice to choose my mate. I would have to be patient, I supposed.

Bella looked like she knew what I was thinking. I called her on it, "Stop looking at me like you can read my mind."

She smiled and shook her head. "Leah, you're an open book. I don't need to read your mind. All you can think about right now is how much longer you'll have to be a wolf before you find your mate. I can put your mind at ease on at least one count," she looked at Seth. He nodded at some unspoken question. "_We_ can put your mind at ease. We think you're already on the path to finding your mate. It's called the mating crucible or the marking crucible, depending on the texts we've read. I can show them to you if you're interested. The crucible is a period of time leading up to the marking and even after it before both mates are marked. It's a series of obstacles, challenges for you to overcome. Some are physical, some emotional, many are psychological. Today, we noticed you displaying some of the mentioned behaviors in the texts I've been studying."

"What kind of behaviors?"

"Honor the Elders by taking on more responsibility and offering to help with Billy, honoring yourself and your pack by standing up to Jake on my behalf after I nearly leveled Sam's house, that sort of thing. God knows you've already been subjected to many of the emotional and psychological challenges," Bella's eyes were unutterably sad as she said that and I could tell she was thinking of my father's death, my first phase, and the situation with Sam and Emily.

"So you think it's just a matter of time?"

"Yes, but that doesn't mean he'll just fall into your lap one day. You need to get out once in a while and look for him. It-" she stopped, biting her tongue to keep from saying something.

"What?"

She sighed, "I hesitate to say it because they're your brothers, but . . . it might even be a member of the pack."

"_Our _pack? You think I'm going to let Brady or Collin mark me, Bella?"

She barked a laugh, "Holy crap! NO! I know you and Jake are both too dominant for there to be anything there between the two of you, but I was thinking Quil or Embry, maybe even P-"

"Don't say it! Don't even think it. Don't go there, Bella," I warned, cutting her off with a slicing motion of my hand. "That last one is no better than Jacob Black, Brady, or Collin as far as I'm concerned."

She giggled.

We sat in silence for a few minutes then, listening to the crickets chirp as the rez settled down for the night.

I turned to the side and leaned my temple on the back of the swing, mimicking Bella and giving it a gentle push to rock us a little before I asked, "So . . . you and Seth?"

A slow, beautiful smile spread across her face, "Yeah."

"You know, if you wanted a sister that badly, you could have just waited a few more months. You probably would have gotten me anyway. My mom and your dad are getting pretty serious. She hardly ever sleeps at home anymore. I bet she moves out this week after she finds out about you two living here together. If they decide to make it official, things are going to get really weird for you and Seth," I said with a wink. "Mated to your step-brother. Pfft! Weirdo."

"Says the other weirdo! At least I don't sprout a tail whenever I lose my shit!" she teased.

"At least when _I _bust out of my clothes, I grow fur. You bust out when you get pissed and you're just the naked girl surrounded by piles of rubble and broken shit," I teased back.

She clapped a hand over her mouth. "I completely forgot about that! Holy crap. Do you think Quil saw me naked? I'll never live that down," she muttered, blushing, covering her face with her hands.

_Seriously, she's blushing after flattening a room full of werewolves? _

"Nope, I doubt you will," I turned a little to look at Seth when I asked, "Are you calling Mom tonight to tell her all this?"

"I'm going to call her to ask her to come out to the house without Charlie tomorrow so we can explain where it won't accidentally be overheard. Bella needs the bag she packed for the weekend anyway and she can't risk being around Charlie right now. Even when Mom is here, I think it might be best if we limit the danger by isolating Bella from the pack until that meeting is over. One wrong word from Paul, and Mom goes through the wall, you know?"

Bella tsked in disagreement, "I would never hurt your mother! I'd run away before I ever let myself get that angry again, especially around a human."

"It's just as a precaution, honey, and just for a little while until you prove you're totally in control. We all had to go through it, too. It sucks making excuses for why you can't spend time with someone. You've been on the receiving end of that. I know you remember."

"It hurt," she said sadly, then went on in a tiny voice, "It'll hurt Charlie when I cancel and disappear off his radar for weeks, too."

"We'll make an excuse that will hurt less, then," Seth said, trying to placate his distressed mate. "I'll call Mom tonight to let her know what's going on with you and ask her to join us for an early breakfast. Tomorrow, we'll tell him you crashed here tonight after catching up with everybody, but got a call from a professor about a requirement that you missed for graduation, so you called early before he woke up and asked Mom to bring your stuff out to the rez since she was coming out anyway so you could get on the road early because of the long drive back to campus."

"That lie came awfully easily to you, Clearwater," she said, giving him the stink eye.

"I learned from the best," he said proudly.

"Paul?" she assumed.

"Embry," I said certainly, nodding. "He's a sneaky little fucker."

Seth shook his head and hitched his thumb, pointing it at me for Bella's benefit.

I gasped in mock outrage, "I never!"

"Sure, sure. You never snuck out of the house to meet Sam and told Mom you were sleeping over at Rachel's house . . . " he drawled.

My eyes widened in shocked, "You knew?"

"'Course I knew. You and Sam were all over each other and you were _way_ too old for sleepovers. Mom is like Charlie that way - she prefers to remain in the dark rather than confront certain things. Dad still thought you were Daddy's perfect little girl," he rolled his eyes.

Bella swatted at him playfully, "Stop it, Seth.

He made a grab for her hand and hauled her into his lap, "Mmm . . . yup, reached my limit. Half an hour is the longest I can go without touching you right now. Way too long."

She sank into his embrace, splitting her knees and tucking them to either side of his waist. He growled softly into her ear, then raised his voice for me, "Lee," more growling, then panting, "if there's something you need from the house tonight, you better get it right now."

I'd never seen my brother like that, so . . . aggressive and grown up. I floundered for a second trying to switch gears rapidly, unsure whether I should just bolt and say 'fuck it' or go and pack enough for a week so I wouldn't have to see whatever this was about to be again anytime soon.

I erred on the side of not having to borrow clothes from Jake and dashed into the house.

I hauled ass up the stairs, taking them three at a time, and grabbed a big bag from the bottom of my closet, tossing the entire contents of my dresser in the bag as fast as I could. Thank goodness for big duffel bags!

I debated whether to pack panties and bras, then remembered Paul would be there to help out, so the underwear went in, too. I had no intention of going commando for any length of time while sharing space with Jacob Black and Paul Lahote. Paul would constantly be scenting me if all I wore were those stupid T-shirt dresses for patrol without a layer of panties as a buffer between him and my undiluted scent. Tempting the devil himself would be wiser.

I dragged the strap over my head and shoulder and slung the duffel securely across my back, sneaking out the side door between the house and the garage to avoid my horny brother and his volatile mate. I could hear them on the front porch and when I peeked around the corner to see if it was safe to make my escape, I gasped.

I mean, sure, maybe I expected them to be making out like horny teenagers on the front porch while they waited patiently for me to clear out . . .

But I didn't expect them to be fucking each other in broad daylight in full view of half the neighborhood either.

I blinked and stared openly in shock.

He held her off the floor with one hand cradled under her ass, the other dragging down the scooped neck of the dress to massage a breast with his rough palm, her back pinned to one of the porch columns, his shorts open and hanging low on his ass. The hem of the borrowed blue dress was rucked up high over her pale thighs, a hand gripping one leg under the knee as he thrust hard enough to make the porch railings creak and the roof sway.

The thick, heady scent of sex hung in the air like fog.

Bella tilted her head back and grunted with every punishing thrust, one hand anchored to the nape of his neck, the other gripping his ribs as she undulated in a serpentine motion in response. It was one of the most sensuous, graceful things I'd ever seen her do, so much so that I forgot she was fucking my brother for a second, but then Bella moaned, "Seth, pleaassseee . . . don't hold back. Fuck me, baby . . . Harder! Mmm, more, please . . . "

Seth picked up the pace, the porch's timber frame groaning in protest as Bella's back thumped against the post. He nailed her, rocking hard into her in short, grinding thrusts, breath heaving, drilling his tiny mate into the hard wood.

"So good . . . Yes, yes, oh, oh Seth, fuck, YES! SEETTHHHH!" she keened, thrashing her head wildly as they rapidly climbed together, Seth whispering gruffly in Quileute in her ear as he sank into her one final time and threw his head back, baying his pleasure for all the rez to hear while she cried out in perfect concert with his howling wolf.

So much for being the head pup of the La Push pack. Baby Clearwater was no more.

_My baby brother just fucked his mate on the front porch in full view of me, the spirits, and everybody else on our block._

At that horrifying notion, I turned and bolted for the trees, opting to take the longer, but more secluded route through the woods over to Jake's place. I needed the time to think.

I'd never seen my brother so happy before today. I mean, obviously, he's getting laid, so of course he's happy, but it was more. It was like the two of them were half of the other. They were so in sync. They weren't finishing each others' sentences. It was more like they could anticipate what the other was going to say before it was said; they knew each other so well.

I wondered how blind I'd been to miss that all this time. Seth was fucking Bella for more than a year, carrying on a relationship for nearly two, and they'd somehow kept it from everyone, including me. I lived in the same house. How oblivious and stuck in my own head had I let myself become that I missed Seth falling in love with Bella?

"Don't think too hard, Clearwater, you might strain something," Lahote's voice interrupted the confusing, repetitive loop of my thoughts as I emerged from the trees behind the Blacks' place.

He was sitting in a lawn chair in the back yard with his feet up on an old log, beer in hand, head tilted back like he was soaking up the rays of the sun. I snorted. What sun?

"What the fuck, Lahote? Did you run to beat me here?" I demanded.

He snorted back, "Everybody cleared out of Sam's more than a half hour ago. You took your sweet ass time. Doesn't sound like Seth did, though. We could hear the two of them howling all the way over at Sam's before everybody took off. Quil just about blew a wad in his shorts listening to Seth make Bells come. Did they even make it inside the house?"

"Porch," I grunted, twisting my face in disgust.

"Shit, gotta give the pup credit. Didn't think he had all _that_ in 'im."

"Well, it's in _her_ now, let me assure you. I got a front row seat before I could escape," I shuddered.

"Aw, whatsamatter, Lee? Jealous?"

"No, _scarred_. For life. I'll be shocked if I go home and there's a porch left standing the way they were screwing each other."

"You _are_ jealous," he sneered. "That's nothing we can't fix, you know." He tilted his head back and took a swig of his beer, watching me closely.

I squirmed under his intense scrutiny.

"Just don't, okay? Let's not pretend we have any interest in each other, alright?" I insisted.

"Speak for yourself, babe. I'm a real man and you smell excited. The wolf agrees. Got a good long look at Bells getting the pup off, did you? Why deny yourself? We're friends, aren't we?"

"Barely," I sniffed.

"That's not a 'no'." he reminded me.

"Where's Billy?" I asked in an attempt to deflect his discomfiting attention.

"Out, doing something with Old Quil, according to the younger one. Said he'd bring him home after dinner over there."

"Oh," I fidgeted. "I- I'll just take my bag in and drop it in the twins' room, see what's what," I edged around him towards the house.

His hand snaked out and caught me at the thigh, "Running away, Lee?"

My wolf rumbled in pleasure. She didn't care if he was packmate, wolf, or man. He smelled just fine to her, too. If she had her way, we'd be on all fours on the forest floor, taking the wolfman for a ride like he'd never had before.

Stupid, horny bitch.

I smacked his hand away, "No!"

Then I ran.

I heard him chuckling behind me as I fled. Fucking Lahote.

In the twins' room, I tossed my bag onto the closet floor and dropped onto Rachel's tiny bed to think over everything Seth and Bella told me.

✫.¸¸ . ✶*¨*. ¸ .✫*¨*.¸¸.✶*¨'*✫

* * *

Please review, my lovely readers, if you read something that you liked!


	6. Ch 7: Lovin in Season of Lemons, Part 1

_A/N 1: Y'all, I got nominated for Favorite Newbie Author for the TwiFic Fandom Awards! My girl Reign77 sent me a PM to say congrats last night and I was all "WHA...?" Best news to get the night before my birthday! Yup, it's my birthday, too, so we're celebrating with lemons today! If you want to throw me a vote (you can consider it a birthday gift, I won't mind), check out the voting page at the twificfandom awards. (I've posted a clickable link to the voting page on my FFn profile page since FFn is a giant tightass about clickable links in story updates. Voting is unlimited in this one, so vote as early and often as you like!) Thanks in advance for your support and to whomever nominated me! You made my day!_

_A/N 2_**: ****WRITE ALL THE LEMONS!**_This one's for you Fae, Mist, and madmamabear, you lemon-lovin', dirty girls._

_If you're a reader who's offended by citrus for the sake of citrus, you may want to skim this one. Wink, wink._

_I mentioned in chat two Friday nights ago that I thought our boy Sethy and his Bells could use some couple-y down-time after the dramatic revelations at the pack meeting. I said I'd like to write a good lemon-filled chapter to reward my readers for sticking with me through the craziness of chapter 5 and thought I could squeeze in up to five lemons in the next chapter and asked for suggestions._

_Fae suggested: "his room, leah's room, bathroom, kitchen, living room..."_

_Before we get to my response, can we all agree that an orgasm is the equivalent of one lemon? Unless a couple climaxes in tandem or from the same...er...event, then that counts as one. Just so we're all on the same page. (Also, please excuse the gratuitous use of actual lemons in this chapter. I really have no shame and that shit makes me cackle like a mental patient.)_

_My response is thus: Six lemons for Chapter "Lovin' in the Season of Meyer Lemons", Parts 1 through whatever (maybe 4?) for Fae and, just for Mist since she threw down the gauntlet by tossing out the arbitrary number 20 in chat when I admitted to liking a challenge, a grand total of 20 lemons/limes all in one go. : : cracks knuckles : : Watch this shit._

**Pre-Readers: madmamabear, SuperGirl-Gem, MP, and SparklingFae all lend a hand with different aspects of this story, so I'm calling them all pre-readers to give credit where it's due. They are goddesses and should be worshiped by lusty, shirtless men with 8-pack abs and too-tight jeans.**

**No Beta, so all errors are entirely and unfortunately mine, as per usual.**

**Epitheteer: Johnnyhandro**

**Banner Made By Mist**

**Rating**: **MA, for grown up cussin' and a whole lot of wolfmate-lovin'.**

**Disclaimer:** SM owns, but Seth's wolf would tell you he belongs to no one but his Isabella.

* * *

✫.¸¸ . ✶*¨*. ¸ .✫*¨*.¸¸.✶*¨'*✫

**Chapter 7 - Lovin' in the Season of Meyer Lemons, Part I**

**Bella POV**

"Mmm," Seth moaned into my throat, tightening his arms around me. One arm was wrapped across my chest holding one plump, aching breast, the other lay over my leg, his hand curved high inside my thigh, anchoring my back to his chest.

I blinked a few times, drowsily dragging my eyes open, slowly adjusting to the dark, a single dim streetlamp in the distance casting long shadows down the deserted street, fallen leaves scattering in the breeze. We were still on the porch, but screened from view by the railing at Seth's back and Sue's pretty little dooryard garden. The pumpkin and decorative gourds that had been set neatly at the top of the steps lay scattered across the scarred porch floor and steps, the pumpkin wobbling gently on its side at the bottom of the stairs as the wind caught it in its errant grasp.

I took a deep breath, pulling in the delicious scent of my wolf as I nestled deeper into his febrile embrace.

I should have been cold. It had to be nearing ten o'clock at night in October in Washington, for heaven's sake, but, between my newly elevated body temperature and my wolf's usual blazing heat, I was toasty.

I was also naked.

Then I remembered. Seth had collapsed under the burden of his intense orgasm earlier. My back slid down the porch column and the borrowed dress and my skin had snagged on something. I yelped in surprise and he had torn the dress over my head in his haste to locate and tend to my scratch. He turned me around in his lap and licked and kissed at it, soothing away the brief stinging with his heated tongue and lulling me into a blissful but all-too-brief post-coital nap in his arms.

I'd awoken with my head resting on his shoulder, still in his lap, with his head buried in my hair, lips touching just the very edge of my new mated mark; that touch a reminder from his wolf that he was still there, that, even in sleep, they both wanted that connection with me. His wolf made it known in hundreds of ways, just like this one, that he needed and adored me as much as, if not more than Seth. It was time I got to know his wolf better, I decided, show him I needed him, too.

I tipped my head back, pushing my throat into his mouth, running my cheek over his jaw in lupine affection. I raised my right hand to his hair, slipping my fingers down to his neck to scratch. He sniffed and shifted a little. I hummed a little sound of pleasure at waking in his arms. His chest rumbled in response, a low, resonant hum that made me drip with desire. I quivered in response and felt a little trickle of his cum from our earlier coupling seep from my slit down to the tip of his cock where it lay cushioned against my lower lips.

Seth must have felt it, too, because he was fully awake. He was already half-hard and started rubbing his cock along my slick, dripping folds.

His voice was still raspy from our little nap as he whispered in my ear, "Mmm . . . is that what you want? More? You need more, babe? You need this?"

He slipped just the head inside me and I moaned in longing. He slid his hand down my torso, tucking two fingers into that wet heat, stroking my slit from both sides until I was panting, my pussy clenching in anticipation. I was drenched.

He stroked one last time before he thrust up into my greedy channel.

I sobbed in relief.

He held both breasts in his hands, nipples clamped in the vice of his knuckles and long fingers as I rearranged myself, rising just enough to spread my legs, knees resting on the cold floor on either side of his, my feet tucked under his ass on each side so I could lean forward just a little to give him room to thrust up into me. His fingers pulled at my nipples as he pounded me mercilessly from beneath and behind. I couldn't catch my breath. He gave me no time to respond in kind; he just fucked me, battering me relentlessly as my pussy clutched and released.

He dropped one hand to my mound, homing in unerringly on my clit to pinch it, _hard_. The orgasm hit me like a sledgehammer, with all the finesse of one. I shouted at the shock of it, the eruption slamming into me as I gasped and felt Seth thrust hard in the throes of his own encroaching wave of bliss, bucking mindlessly, his rhythm faltering before he lost it, too. His teeth clamped down on my mark, roaring into my throat as the force of his release coursed through his body.

I leaned forward a little and to the side to rest my head and shoulder against the column, gasping for air as I quivered and shook with aftershocks, Seth still grinding gently up into my clenching heat. His hands fell away.

"Seth . . ." I whimpered, protesting the loss of his hands, needing his touch.

I felt the vibration as he shook, his head maybe, then felt his hand stroke my hair from the crown of my head down to my lower back. His voice shook with worry, "Bells? You okay, baby?"

"Mm, mm-hmm," I whimpered again, trying not to cry as I curled into his warm caresses.

"Oh, honey," his voice broke, ""I'm so sorry. I was too rough. Did I hurt you?"

"No," I shook my head, trying to swallow the tears. I was overwhelmed. "Just- Just so much. You marked me again. It- It makes me so happy, but it's so much. I feel _so_ much. I just- I can't-"

"Shh, it's okay. I got you," he said, folding me back into his chest, turning me in his arms so he could check for himself that I was okay. The tender compassion on his face brought another wave of love and emotion to the surface and the tears I'd been holding back finally fell. He kissed them away, crooning softly, "Shh, it's okay. We just needed to mark you again. Your scent- The wolf wants you covered in our scent. As good as you smell, right now he just wants to obliterate it with ours. I think it's a wolf's den marking thing, now that we're home. He wants you to smell like us and home, what he thinks of as his den. Are you upset?"

"N- No, just emotional, probably just a girl thing. I'm due," I admitted, waving it away, nuzzling his naked chest and clutching the rippling muscles of his back.

He rose to his feet, stepping out of his shorts as he lifted me like I weighed nothing, carrying me across the porch and shouldering the door open. He kissed me gently, a soft, smacking press of lips that curled my toes, "Let's get you inside. You need a nice hot shower. You've been playing chew toy to my wolf all day."

"You don't need to carry me. I can walk," I said, wriggling to get down.

"Not this time," he rumbled. "It's tradition, isn't it? For a wolf to carry his mate over the threshold of their den the first time?"

I laughed, a watery chuckle that helped stem my turbulent emotions, "I don't know. Sounds like a good tradition to start, though."

He captured my lips in another kiss, more fervid than the last, and stepped over the threshold into the next chapter of Seth and Bells.

* * *

He didn't slow down when we were inside, just carried me right on up the stairs, pausing on the landing to grab the cordless phone from the little corner table as we passed.

He walked down the hall, but passed his bedroom door.

I look at him curiously.

He saw the look and explained when he paused outside the door at the end of the hall, "Mom had trouble sleeping in her and Dad's old room after she started seriously dating Charlie. She didn't want Charlie to have to sleep in Dad's old space. I guess it was weird for both of them. My room was the easiest to renovate to enlarge, so I traded. It meant I could get a bigger bed, too, so Mom replaced the old frame and mattress as a surprise for my birthday."

He nudged the door open, "Check it out."

I did.

It was amazing.

Gone were the tattered band posters and disused Star Wars knick-knacks of his childhood bedroom. In their stead were beautiful pieces of Native American artwork, almost certainly all Quileute handwork of one kind or another. Sturdy, woven, cedar baskets in smaller sizes to hold his billfold and loose coins were arranged on the dark mahogany nightstand by the bed and a larger one that held some of his ceremonial beadwork for more formal events sat atop a glass-front case with more delicate, older family heirlooms inside.

There were paintings on the walls, forests and the beach and wolves that I recognized and could name. Some talented member of the pack must have painted these.

Scattered throughout the room on the mahogany shelves and dressers - even on the desk under the window - were delicate pieces of finely-carved scrimshaw, some yellowed with age and detailed with ancient Quileute whaling scenes and some newer pieces with depictions of individual wolves, spirit warriors like my Seth, and scenes of the pack. Even without color, many of the wolves were recognizable as our friends, I realized, which meant there was now a tribal scrimshander in on the secret, too.

The walls were painted a rich golden hue that shimmered a little when he flicked on the woven basket lamp by the bed. The bed was a veritable lake of luxurious, soft cotton in shades of dark green and brown plaid patchwork interspersed with squares of burgundy and denim. A pile of pillows that invited the weary to rest and nest lay at the head of the dark wood sleigh bed.

I gaped at the bed.

Setting the phone on the nightstand before he set me gently on the edge of the mattress, Seth shrugged, "I think Mom knew, or hoped, that things with you were getting serious enough that I might settle down - that I'd need a grown-up bed worthy of having a woman in it. She went all out - said you only turn 18 once."

"No kidding," I said, my mouth still agape, in awe of Seth's- _our_ new space. "She feathered your nest, didn't she?"

"_Our_ nest," he corrected me. He swung my feet up on the bed. "I'm not even sure if she consciously realized that she was doing it. Here. Put your feet up for a minute while I go find some towels and some of that girly soap you left here after the beach that one time this summer. Gotta call Mom about bringing your stuff over, too. Shower or bath?"

"Mmm . . . much as I would love to shower with you, a bath sounds heavenly," I said a little apologetically.

"We can shower together later. You probably ache everywhere by now. I'm sorry, honey. It's just so hard to hold back now that everyone knows and, with the mark-"

"-there's no reason not to," I said, nodding in understanding. "I get that. Besides, the spirits made sure I'm sturdy enough now to hold up to that kind of loving. I just need a hot bubbly bath to soak and recharge my batteries, honey. Then I'll be good as new."

"Food, you need fuel. I'll grab some snacks while I'm down there. You can have a bath full of decadence. I'll wash you and feed you," he promised, snatching up the phone as he hurried out to track down supplies.

I stretched out on the bed, rolling to my bare back to revel in the soft, pillowy feeling of the new quilt on the acre of cozy, new pillow-top mattress. I was still naked, my loaner dress probably shredded and dangling drunkenly from something on the front porch. I barely consider the overwhelming urge before I turned over, rubbing my hands and face, stomach, even my damp mound into the quilt.

I inhaled deeply, loving the saturation of his manly scent in the bed covers.

Were it anyone else's bed, I'd never do such a thing - rub my lady slime all over a new duvet, but I knew Seth and his wolf would love having my scent in their little nest. He used to have me stay over if he could manage to get Leah to take a patrol shift on the last night before I'd go back to U-Dub at the end of a break just so he could rub my body all over his sheets. He'd even carried me downstairs and fucked me to a hard, screaming finish bent over his kitchen table. He said Leah had complained about the stink of one of his conquests for a month before he'd finally had to sanitize and disinfect it to rid it of its scent before a pack gathering at their house. Seth thought it was easier to let Leah think he was getting around and was worried that one of the guys knew the anonymous girl he'd fucked on the table. Leah just wasn't familiar at all with the scent of my arousal the way that the male wolves were, he explained.

Some of Seth's cum dribbled down my crease and I nearly got up to save the quilt before I remembered that was scent-marking, too, and it wouldn't matter to Seth. It was only more proof that I was his, that I wore his scent. He'd actually like it, maybe even let his wolf stick their nose in that spot when no one was looking later. I creamed myself just imagining the erotic tableau of Seth laying across the bed with the quilt pulled up to his nose so he could sniff the combined scents of my pussy and his cum while he lazily jerked himself off thinking of me, jets of his ropy cum shooting all over his hand and stomach, some transferring to the quilt to set off the cycle again later.

I rolled over, starting to get worked up as I marked our nest, my hand creeping down to stroke my drenched pussy, pulling more of his fluids to the surface to rub on my lips and across my lower abdomen, thinking I'd rub that on the sheets later, too. I parted my legs a little to reach deeper, inserting one finger into my sopping channel. I flicked my clit with my thumb and moaned, my other hand working the tender pink tip of my hard nipple.

"I talked to Mom. She said she'll bring your bag over first thing tomorrow mor-" Seth's voice cut off as he entered the room. "-ning."

The shock wore off quickly and he inhaled deeply, stalking closer to the bed. I heard him closing in. I could smell him, too, his luscious male pheromones saturating the room and my senses. My head thrashed and my pussy clenched around my finger in response.

"Whatcha doin', babe?" he asked, running a hand down my leg, gripping my knee and pulling it up until my foot rested on the edge of the bed in front of him. He stroked down my other leg, too, dipping a hand into my pussy to run his hot fingers through my folds and the drippy mess we'd made together. He closed his eyes and groaned, "Fuuuuck, so wet . . . always so wet for me."

I pushed up to my elbows, reaching up to scratch at his ribs, grasping at him desperately. "Again," I begged.

"Now?" his eyebrows shot up to his hairline.

"Pleeeaase . . . Need- Need the wolf. Talk to me. So hot, wet. Please!" I sobbed brokenly, overwhelmed again by a tide of emotions as I was swept away on a wave of lust.

The bed was the perfect height, thank goodness, and Seth was still naked and, while we're at it, thank the spirits for werewolf stamina, because, _goddamn_ if my wolf wasn't ready to go again.

He pulled me up into a reclined, seated position with my ass and feet perched on the edge of the bed to make we watch as he dragged the tip lightly up and down the seam of my puffy, pink lips, rubbing it tauntingly over my soaked clit before returning to torture my sensitive pussy lips with the glistening, purple head of his fat cock.

He growled, grabbing my attention, and looked into my eyes, a shimmer of gold flashing, chasing around the outer edge of his irises as he let the wolf come to the surface, "**Isabella, is ****_this_**** what you need?**"

He plunged deep, bottoming out as he hit my cervix.

I cried out, nodding my head 'yes', then shaking it 'no', not sure how to answer.

"**Tell us**," he commanded, cradling me in his arms like the gentlest of human lovers as he stroked my insides slowly and steadily with his cock.

I tried to hold his gaze to explain while the rest of my body writhed on his hard length, "You and Seth gave me your mark. It makes you mine, but I need more of you, Wolf. I need to _know_ you. I _want_ to."

"**What would you know, Isabella**?"

I pulled myself up by his shoulders and he met me halfway, nuzzling his fresh mark, nipping it with his lips.

I nipped at his ear in return, panting at the effort it took to carry on a conversation while he plucked and pulled, playing my body like a finely-tuned instrument that played only symphonies of passion and lust, but I managed to rasp out my request, "Your name. Do you have one? When Seth makes love to me, I know what to shout, whose name to call out to the spirits in thanks. I want- Ugh. I want to wail your name in the heat of the moment, too, when you take me. I'm your mate. There will be times when you will take me rather than allowing Seth that pleasure all the time. You call me 'Isabella'. What can I call you?"

"**I am called by the other spirit wolves 'Chevexo'i'**," he answered breathlessly, laboring over his words as he never stopped thrusting and stroking, ratcheting up my lust with every stroke. "**Is that all you would have of us, Isabella**?" he asked with a sly grin.

"It's all I- Ugh- -all I would ask. I will gladly take whatever else you choose to give me, though," I answered truthfully, praying he wouldn't stop this delicious torture.

"**And if we choose to give you our pup**?" he wondered.

Images flashed before my eyes.

_Seth lifting me, spinning in a joyful circle at such good news._

_His hot hands tenderly caressing the newly swollen mound of my belly as he lay an ear over it to listen to the pup's movements._

_Sitting astride him while he tenderly stroked that same belly filled nearly to bursting with his pup, but I was naked and his hands were everywhere; stroking plump, sensitive breasts and rubbing my aching clit through pink folds swollen and tender from the many long, horny months of pregnancy, I wailed joyfully, falling over the edge with him as he cradled me, gently soothing the pup through my flesh as we floated back down to Earth together._

_Seth holding our pup, placing him at my breast to nurse for the first time as we snuggled in our nest together after the birth._

_Seth, whispering in Quileute to me and our pup, "I love you, both of you."_

I shuddered with longing at the life laid out before me. I wanted it.

"**We would give you our pup**," Chevexo'i decided, thrusting hard, hitting my G-spot and pressing down firmly but gently on my lower abdomen.

I came violently without warning, fisting his rock-hard length with my tight pussy, bucking against him, gushing, raining over his cock and thighs, calling his name, "Fuck, yes! Chev- Chevexo'i! Yes! Mine! Yes!" I undulated in his grasp, rolling my body up to look into his eyes as I cradled his head in my hands, and said in a whisper with a lick at his lips, "Yes, give me your pup."

The gold shimmer in his irises flashed one final time as he inhaled a deep draught of the dripping evidence of my desire and answered with a smile, "**We already have**."

✫.¸¸ . ✶*¨*. ¸ .✫*¨*.¸¸.✶*¨'*✫

* * *

Parts 2, 3, and maybe a 4th of "Lovin' in the Season of Meyer Lemons" should start showing up over the next few days. I broke the chapter up into mini ficlets to make it easier to read.

It's my birthday! Leave me a note and some love if you enjoyed your little slice of lemon birthday cake.


	7. Ch 8: Lovin in Season of Lemons, Part 2

_A/N: No lengthy author's note to speak of this week. (For once!) This is part 2 of the super chapter I started last week. I can confirm that there should be at least 2 more acts to this ficlet within a fic.  
_

**Pre-Readers: madmamabear, SuperGirl-Gem, MP, and SparklingFae all lend a hand with different aspects of this story, so I'm calling them all pre-readers to give credit where it's due. They are goddesses and should be worshiped by lusty, shirtless men with 8-pack abs and too-tight jeans.**

**No Beta, so all errors are entirely and unfortunately mine, as per usual.**

**Epitheteer: Johnnyhandro**

**Banner Made By Mist**

**Rating**: **MA, for shmexxy cussin' and GOBS of wolfmate-lovin'.**

**Disclaimer:** SM owns, but Seth's wolf would tell you he belongs to no one but his Isabella.

* * *

✫.¸¸ . ✶*¨*. ¸ .✫*¨*.¸¸.✶*¨'*✫

**Chapter 8: Lovin' in the Season of Meyer Lemons, Part II**

**Bella POV**

"Wh- What?" I asked in disbelief. "When?"

He abandoned his vigorous rhythm, slowing down, moving gently against me until he'd all but stopped so he could answer me seriously, "**We knew when you came to us on the cliffs and incited us to mark you. Well, ****_I _****knew. Your young warrior did not recognize the signs for what they are. Your mating instincts are even stronger now that you carry the pack's first pup. It has provoked a similar change in your young warrior and in the rest of the pack as well. Your scent has also changed, which will further arouse the need to find a mate in the others. This is how it often happens with the first mated pair in a pack. It sets off a mating frenzy, a pack's first mating season.**"

He ran his nose down my throat, stopping to inhale deeply at his mark. "**You always smell like the sweetness of honey and milk with the spiciness of ginger, but there is less of the tangy spice now, with a note more like heavy cream than milk. Your breasts are already growing full, heavier with a richer milk meant to nourish strong whelps. It combines with your own scent to make the most delicious natural perfume**," Chevexo'i explained, closing his eyes and taking another deep, indulgent inhale.

When he opened his eyes they were startling, a fiery gold. They burned with lust, caressing my body, making me feel lush and deliciously curvy under his penetrating gaze. He cupped my plump breast in his palm, then nipped at it with his full lips. I loved his lips.

I shivered as he ran a moistened thumb over my pebbled nipple. Heat pooled in my center and I gushed as a fresh wave of fluid released to lubricate his cock, still embedded within me.

"Did Seth know this?" I asked in a tiny voice, fearing his answer a little. I didn't like the idea that Seth had known and deliberately kept it a secret from me. I clutched at his head tightly, afraid he might lie to me to protect Seth.

"**No. He hasn't phased since before you met us at the cliffs. His human senses aren't as sharp in this body until I come to the surface of his consciousness. When I allow him to return to you in a few minutes, he may be confused and angry that he didn't know. You may have to soothe his fears about the timing of the marking. Can you do that?**" he regarded me carefully, concerned about my reaction to his news, but never ceasing the exquisite, repeated assault on my wet, heated sex.

I panted, trying to find words, any words at all, clinging to the thread of the conversation with little more than fingertips as he mercilessly stroked within me. I couldn't carry on a sentient conversation for much longer.

"Yes, but before that, do we have a few minutes? I- I need a few . . . unnggg . . . minutes with you before I'm . . . mmm . . . ready for that. Could I have some more time with you?" I begged, touching his face - Seth's face, but with ancient, lambent eyes, full of the knowledge of generations of past warriors.

"**Of course, tiny mate. I'm hardly done with you yet**," he growled low, lifting me into his arms without ever withdrawing from my body. I clung to him, needing the reassurance of his embrace as I reeled at the revelation of my impending motherhood.

My lips curved, a smile full of wonder. Seth - my Seth - was going to be a dad.

He carried me over the mattress, somehow gracefully crawling on his knees until we were in the center, up near the pillows. He turned and sat down, rearranging me in his lap as he lay down, reclining against the mountain of pillows and the curved headboard.

I rose above him, surprised he would allow me to be on top, in such a glaringly dominant position. I quirked an eyebrow at him.

He laughed, "**I** **know what you're thinking, my Isabella; I can hear it, and I'm fine with this. It's safer for our pup. Your young warrior has been a bit rougher than usual today, and myself, little better. Besides, you are a goddess I would worship, being you and full with my pup. Your fertility is . . . tantalizing, irresistible**," he crooned, his eyes hooded with lust, then asked in his dusky butterscotch sex voice, "**Are you comfortable**?"

I bit my lip and nodded, testingly clenching and unclenching the muscles inside me, moaning at the feel of his thick length filling me, stretching me, bottoming out against my cervix without even trying.

He let out a groaning growl, a soft susurration that sounded almost like the purr of a large cat.

"**Can you ride me?**" he bit out, looking almost pained by the effort to remain still until he was assured of my comfort.

"Yes," I breathed, then with more certainty, "Yes. I want to. You-" I was overcome with emotion, tears leaking out, running down my cheeks in thin ribbons.

He cradled my head in his gentle hands, gazing into my eyes and wiping the tears away with his thumbs.

"**What, Isabella?**" he asked gently.

"You- You gave me your pup, our pup. I'm going to be a mother. We're having a baby. It's just so . . . _much_," I sniffled, then decided to move, determined. I needed to show him how beautiful he made me feel, how exquisitely wanton. Knowing that I carried his pup made me ache with the sense of belonging, ache with desire for him, my wolf. I felt well and truly his, like the seductive, fertile goddess he claimed. It was an intoxicating sensation, knowing he found my gently rounded belly so enticing. I picked up a rocking motion against his pelvis, a gentle action to give myself a bit of friction and keep up a steady, but easy pace.

I closed my eyes briefly, losing myself in the sensuous rocking motion and his warmth.

I opened my eyes lazily when I felt his hands on my hips, his thumbs stroking gently down the sides of the gentle slope of my abdomen, over the barely noticeable bulge there.

Realization dawned then, "If you realized I was pregnant when I came to you on the cliffs, it couldn't have happened today, could it?"

I continued the luxurious, unhurried rocking without breaking eye contact while I waited for his answer.

He chuckled, "**No, definitely not.**"

"How far along?" I asked, slowing down and running a hand wonderingly over the slight swell of my belly.

"**A few cycles, perhaps. No more than two or three, I think. Your young warrior's mother can confirm this, though**," he said, grinding lightly against my rocking hips with a groan. "**You will know more soon. Enough chatter. I would love you once more before your warrior returns and I'm forced to share you again.**"

He slid his hands away from my belly, one gliding down to my nearly bare mound to dip between damp folds, smoothing the pad of his thumb over my throbbing clit. The other hand slipped behind my back, fingers dancing lightly down the crease of my ass, dipping one finger, then two, carefully into my wet heat from behind, along the underside of his cock. He withdrew, tracing back up the divide between my cheeks before I understood his intent.

I felt one slippery digit press against the tightly-clenched ring of my puckered flesh, alternately tickling and soothing with soft strokes meant to calm and unwind the tension there so he could gain entrance.

I exhaled and made an effort to relax. Then I heard his voice and shuddered, "**You like that Isabella, I know. When we licked you here earlier, your juices thickened and your scent condensed in a sweet, perfumed cloud around us just like it is now. We'd like to fuck you here eventually, but it will take patience and preparation. We don't want to hurt you.**"

I shook my head.

"**No? You don't want that?**" he asked, withdrawing his fingers slightly.

"No! I mean . . . Yes, I- I like it. I meant, uh, I was agreeing with you that, no, I don't want it to hurt. I know it'll feel good. It was wonderful when Seth- when he licked and kissed me there," I admitted, flushing pink and letting my hair fall into my eyes as I pleasured myself on my wolf, rocking my hips with a little less rhythm.

He brushed the hair out of my face with one hand, tucking it behind my ear, and with the other, he replaced his fingers against the slick, untried opening, pressing just the tip of one finger past the tight outer ring of muscle. I tried to relax again, tilting my hips back a little and imagining myself opening up so I could enjoy this new sensation.

"**That's it, my sweet, little mate. I love how eager you are to please and try new things. The young human likes it, too.**"

I popped one eye open to look at him curiously, "Young human?"

"**Your Seth. You think of him as your wolf, but ****_I _****am your wolf. ****_He_**** is your shape-shifting human. We share a mind. We don't have a need to address one another by name very often. He calls me 'wolf'. I call him 'young human' when it's called for,**" he explained, carrying on as if he weren't grinding slow and tortuous circles into my overheated sex. "**Now you should calm yourself and enjoy. Don't think so hard. Just feel. I'll take care of you.**"

I moaned, leaning forward and picking up the pace. I rubbed my clit against his pubic bone, trying to both ignore and enjoy the odd sensation of his fingertip gently probing my insides, carefully stretching me open. It felt odd - good - but the novelty of it was overwhelming me. I felt so much all of a sudden, so warm, so much! I moaned louder, placing my hands on the lower part of his ribs for support as I rocked on his cock back into his hands and he thrust his finger deeper. I worked my hips and his cock, frenzied, like I was right on the verge of being out of control, almost on the razor's edge of hysteria as I bucked into his hand, riding his massive cock. It throbbed inside me and that was it, the straw that broke the camel's back.

It throbbed again and that was it for him, too. He howled his release as my hips bucked wildly, my insatiable sex clenching and tugging at his pulsing shaft. I keened in response as he latched onto my breast with greedy lips and teeth, drawing out one final long, low moan of pleasure as I came again - an aftershock - and collapsed on his chest, breathless and exhausted.

"Bella?" The return of my Seth's voice was sweet music to my ears.

I looked up, blinking blearily into his eyes, noting their return to the soft amber brown of, "Seth?"

"He wasn't too rough, was he?" he asked, lifting me a little to look me over carefully, but I was like spaghetti in his hands; limp, boneless.

He drew me to his side, stroking a hand reverently over my abdomen, "It's true? You're pregnant?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I guess I am. Your wolf, he says he could smell it when I arrived today, the change in my scent, even before you marked me, which means I'm at least about 6 - 7 weeks pregnant already. Maybe a bit more. Are you- Are you okay with this?" I asked, my voice a little shaky with nerves. I looked into his eyes, concern and worry reflecting back at me.

"Of course- Yes! Bella! Of course I'm okay with it! A pup! Our_ first_ pup . . . this is awesome!" he whispered excitedly, sliding gently out of my body and pulling me with him off the bed to kiss and spin with wild abandon, my feet swinging out just like in the vision the wolf shared with me.

I laid a hand on his jaw, "I love you. Thank you, baby." Then I kissed him, a soft press of lips, and tried to use our new connection to do more than share thoughts with him. I tried to show him the visions of our future that Chevexo'i had shown me when we made love.

_Did you see those, too?_ I wondered as he slowed our momentum and placed me carefully on my feet.

He shook his head, "No, not at the time, but I see things differently when his mind is at the surface. Dreamlike, as if I'm watching and listening through water. His movements and body language are easier to follow than conversations, but I got the gist of it when we began stroking your belly," he said by way of explanation. "I swear, Bella, if I'd known- Wait, _how_ _long_?"

"He said I was already pregnant before you marked me, so it has to be at least six and a half, maybe seven weeks or more. He said no more than two or three months and that we should get your mom to confirm it."

"Mom . . ." he breathed, then his expression turned to concern. "She had you on double the birth control after that incident with the condom. She'll be beside herself with blame and worry."

"I think she'll be happy," I tried to reassure him.

"I don't doubt that she will be, eventually, but she'll blame herself for the birth control not working and worry that it's so soon and I'm still young in years if not in body and mind, but you're not too young to become a mom and that will sway her," he said certainly, but in an uncharacteristically rambling way. He hauled me into his strong embrace. "We still need to have that bath . . . um, but not too warm. I think I heard somewhere you're not supposed to have hot baths when you're pregnant."

"Seth, my temperature is nearly 109 degrees. You honestly think a hot bath is going to be dangerous? How much hotter will your water heater actually make the water?"

"Oh, right . . . um . . . it never feels hot to me anymore."

"Right, so I think we're safe there," I assured him.

"Annnn-yway, as I was saying, we'll have that bath yet, but I'd like a few moments, if you don't mind?"

"For what, baby?"

"To lay in bed with you, hold you and touch you. The wolf stole my thunder," he mocked playfully, pretending to be annoyed.

"Oh, you want to . . . ?" I gestured at my belly.

"Yes, please," he answered, kissing me once more, making my toes curl and stealing my breath. He nipped at my cupid's bow and bit gently at my bottom lip, tugging it into his mouth to lightly suck on it. My knees went weak and he scooped me up, placing me back on the bed and crawling in behind me.

He sat up against the pillows, drawing me over to sit between his legs with my back against his chest. He ran his hands teasingly down my arms, then under them, drawing lazy circles over my belly, lulling me into a drowsy state of blissful relaxation.

"You're so beautiful, you know, all delicate curves and fair, pink skin. I think you might have finally put on a few pounds, too. The urge to feed you isn't as strong as it usually is and you look plumper in all the best places," he murmured in my ear, hefting a breast in each hand, thumbing my nipples gently and making me squirm in his embrace. Heat pooled between my thighs and Seth inhaled deeply. "Fuck, you smell so amazing. I want to bury my head between your legs and live there forever."

"That hardly sounds very practical," I answered breathlessly, running my nails up and down his thighs, lightly scratching at his knees. He jerked involuntarily.

_My wolf is a bit ticklish_, I thought with a sly grin.

"Don't get any ideas. I heard that," he admonished. He stuck his face in my hair, nuzzling his mark on my throat and letting his hands wander farther down my torso over the swell of my belly.

A wave of emotion overcame me and I whimpered, sinking into his arms.

"It's okay. I've got you. I'll take care of you, you _and_ our pup," he whispered, continuing in Quileute, "I love you, both of you."

Another of the visions come to life, just like that. Happy tears slid down my cheeks.

Seth sniffed delicately, "You're crying, honey. What's wrong?"

"Nothing, just another one of those visions your wolf shared with me. It makes it feel more real." I sniffled.

His arms tightened around me, "I'm glad. I'm glad it's real and not a dream or just a vision."

We sat in silence for a while, neither of us growing sleepy or eager to move outside this precious bubble where the two of us could hold one another and marvel over our pup - what he might look like or whom he might take after, if he would phase someday, what his name might be.

Seth finally broke the silence, squirming a little, "This is going to sound weird, but there's something about knowing you're carrying my baby that just makes me . . ."

"Horny as fuck?" I supplied with a smirk. "Yeah, me, too."

"Can I . . . ?" he gestured to my abdomen.

"Oh yes, please! I want you to touch me," I pulled his hands down to cover my belly, urging one to rest a little lower, hoping he'd take the hint as I blushed at my own naughty thoughts. _I'm somebody's mother now. Am I supposed to be this horny for my baby daddy all the time?_

My man, not being slow, heard the signals (_and _my randy thoughts) loud and clear.

With one hand reverently stroking my belly, he lowered the other to the cleft of my sex, just brushing the rounded tip of my clit with one warm fingertip.

It felt like being electrocuted. My body lit up at his touch and I gasped, arching in his arms, reaching back for his neck to anchor myself, overwhelmed with euphoria and lust.

I could smell it in the air. My senses had only sharpened more since the marking and my unexplained human 'phase' at the pack meeting. The combined scent of our lust was so thick, it was nearly visible in the room with us, a separate entity pushing us together, whispering to take more and more and more, urging us to explore and stroke and lick, to push, to grab, to pinch, to fuck.

My head spun and I ached with need. Seth knew, he _always _knew what I needed. He held me between his legs, leaning back against the headboard. Caging me within his strong arms, I surrendered to his ministrations when he begged, murmuring in my ear, "Let me take care of you."

His fingers slid into my slick folds, gathering moisture to bring to my clit. He rubbed in delicate circles, lazily, letting the tension build, massaging my heated skin with his other palm, pinching my nipples, plucking, strumming, coaxing a sonata of pleasure from my body once again.

The pressure built; he was an expert at stoking the low burning embers of my lust into a scorching blaze. This time was no exception.

He spread the fingers of one broad hand out across my belly, tenderly cradling our pup, while the other drove me to a sobbing peak, crying out his name, his wolf's, desperate 'I love you's, thanks, prayers, and pleas to the spirits. I wrapped my hands around his thighs and threw myself headlong into the swirling vortex of orgasm instead of fighting off the pleasure/pain of surrendering for once, my vision going dark temporarily, a pulsing dark blue fade to silver, sparkling with tiny lights, pinpricks of pleasure that I recognized as my nerves pulse- pulse- pulsing with release, then everything went gray and I sighed, giving way to the blissful embrace of unconsciousness in his arms.

I came to sometime later. Seth had turned me on my side, but I remained in his hold. He ran his hand up and down my spine, stopping occasionally to trace circles lightly across my skin. That's what finally woke me, I suspected. It was a lovely way to wake. I wanted him to wake me this way every day from then on.

His familiar smoked cedar and fresh cut grass scent was the perfume of home and belonging beneath the warm tones of the sandalwood soap I'd started buying him for Christmas two years ago. I could detect subtle nuances, though, after the marking and my phase, things I hadn't been aware of before. A musky scent that took on a rich spiciness when we made love, a sweetness when he looked into my eyes and spoke in dulcet, loving tones, and a creamy, comforting, savory scent when we talked about the pup.

I wondered at that change. Did my scent alter that way with my moods as well?

"You awake, honey?" he whispered in case I was still asleep, afraid to wake me prematurely if I needed more rest. I knew my man worried, not just about the quality of my sleep while I was cramming for exams and taking too many classes so I could finish my degrees sooner, but now he would also worry about the rest I would need as the pup developed and overdoing it in this frantic post-marking frenzy we'd been caught up in.

"Mmm . . . yes. Did I sleep long?" I asked, stretching like a cat and searching out his eyes.

"Not long enough for me," he muttered, stroking my belly in reminder.

"Actually," I looked down, trying to hide my embarrassment as my stomach growled, "I could really use a snack. I'm a little hungry."

His eyebrows shot up in surprise. "You're hungry? YES! You're never hungry!" he said excitedly. Only a wolf would get excited that we'd have hunger in common.

"The baby, I guess, maybe? Or the sex? I definitely need a drink, then a snack," I said, running my tongue around the inside of my dry mouth, seeking and finding no moisture to spare.

"Wait right here. I'll be right back," he promised, sliding out from under me, carefully rearranging me on my side amid the pillows. He stroked my hip before he left, striding quickly down the hall.

I heard the tap run in the bathroom before he returned with a small glass of cold water. He kneeled beside the bed, offering me the glass, "Here, just to tide you over. I'll be back with a snack and a drink in a few minutes. Any special requests for my new baby mama?"

I grinned, propping myself up on one arm, taking a sip before answering, "Mmm . . . man, even water tastes good now. Um, I'd really love a green apple and some peanut butter. Oh, and some iced tea. I could make it if there isn't any-" I started to slide across the bed.

"No, I can take care of it," he swore, "but, umm, I'm not sure we have any decaf."

"Decaf? Why does that matter?" I wondered, baffled by the turn in conversation.

"Babe, I don't think you're supposed to have-"

I cut him off when I realized where this was going, "You can't be serious, Seth. I haven't even had a chance to take a pregnancy test yet, honey. One glass of iced tea isn't going to cause any long-lasting damage. I'm a scientist. Trust me," I said, firming my lips in a mock serious face.

He sighed, then caved, "Fine, but only one glass before you see my mom at the clinic in the morning for a full exam. I'll call her and ask her to meet us there instead."

I started to protest, but he held up a hand, "My wolf needs the reassurance, too, Bells. Please?"

His eyes were pleading and it was so little he asked of me, to make sure the baby and I were both okay, especially after what we'd been through today. I conceded it was a good idea, "You're right. We should see your mom, first thing. Then we'll talk to Jake, but for now, I'm_ really_ hungry-"

"Got it! Be right back," he said, kissing my nose and rising to his feet again. "Lay down and put your feet up," he tossed over his shoulder as he strode out purposefully, his long strides eating up the floor in no time.

_My man does not mess around when it comes to food_, I thought with a smile.

He was back within minutes, a large glass of sweetened iced tea in one hand and a plate loaded with a mound of red and green apple slices and peanut butter in the other. "To share," he said pointedly as he put the glass of tea on the night stand.

I nodded solemnly, trying not to crack a smile. He was so adorable, worrying about my caffeine intake and taking care of us.

"Mom has a big bowl full of these dark, ugly lemons that smell great in the kitchen, so I added some fresh squeezed lemon juice to the tea, too," he explained when I took a pleasantly surprised sip.

"Mm . . . Meyer Lemons, probably. They're sweeter. They're darker because they're cross-pollinated with clementines or nectarines or something," I said, taking another big sip. Seth's iced tea was _amazing_. Everything tasted _so good_!

Then I finally got a good look at the plate in his hand. It was more of a ham or turkey platter for special occasions than a plate. There was a mountain of peanut butter and Nutella and some Golden Delicious slices mixed in with the Red Delicious and Granny Smith slices.

"Ooh . . . goody!" I exclaimed, bouncing and clapping my hands in delight. I stuck my hands out, "Gimme!"

"Look at you, all giddy about food, eating for two now," he drawled slowly, holding the platter just out of reach. "You act more like a wolf with every hour that passes. Chill out. You can have some . . . for a kiss."

He puckered up.

"Deal!" I launched myself into his arms, nearly knocking the plate out of his hand. Thank goodness for werewolf reflexes.

He laughed and kissed me back, "I could get used to this." He put the platter on the bed and climbed in next to me.

"What?" I asked, sliding the platter closer. I dipped a green slice in the peanut butter and started munching happily.

"Umm, lots of things . . ." he crunched into a golden slice and we ate quietly for a few minutes, but I could see he was thinking over his answer while we demolished the plate of apples.

He answered, finally, "Having you in my bed, kisses in exchange for midnight snacks, mind-blowing sex without picking crumbled leaf litter and moss out of my ass for hours afterward, finding out I'm going to be a dad . . . Pick one!" He chuckled, biting into the last slice of red apple with Nutella, a blob of it landing on his abs.

"Ohhh . . ." I licked my lips when he glanced down, about to wipe it off, "No! Let me help you with that."

"Like I'd stop you," he scoffed, leaning back on his hands, thrusting his hips up a little in invitation and wagging his eyebrows at me.

I snorted, then polished off the last slice of green apple and peanut butter, licking my fingers seductively and eying up the ridges and valleys of his chest and abs. I settled between his legs, placing my hands on his hip bones and did a little push-up, using my upper arms to push my breasts together before I dipped down to suck the creamy, melting blob of Nutella from his stomach into my warm mouth. I flicked my tongue across his skin and he jumped a little.

I pushed myself back up, forcing my breasts together again and looking up at him from beneath lowered lashes. I licked my lips.

He groaned.

I snickered.

I lowered myself again, bending my elbows and shifting farther down his torso.

He was still naked, the head of his cock glistening with a tiny pearl of pre-cum. I ran my tongue over the head, then briefly took him into my mouth. When I pulled back, the purple head was shining wetly with his cum and my saliva. I moved in close, ghosting down his length as I exhaled a hot, moist breath over his sensitive skin.

He shuddered.

I felt like a lusty goddess, maybe even just a tiny bit evil as I taunted him with another exhale on the return trip up to the head.

I close my mouth over the mushroom head again and ran my tongue around the underside, lubricating it with more spit. My man loved a good, slobbery, porn star-worthy hummer.

I relaxed my throat and drew him in, sinking all the way down to the base on the first try.

He sobbed my name, "Be-el-la."

"Hmm?" I inquired with a hum around his cock.

He groaned.

I loved this. I loved knowing I could reduce my big, strong werewolf almost to tears with pleasure. Seth made me feel powerful and beautiful and sexy all at once with every moan and wail for release.

I was in no hurry, though.

He stuck his hands in my hair, right at the temples, and rocked gently a few times, never thrusting too hard. I relaxed and breathed through my nose, hollowing my cheeks, letting him take control for a few moments while I sucked on his length and massaged the underside with my tongue.

I felt his balls begin to tighten against my chin as they pulled in close to his body. He wouldn't last much longer.

He pulled away gently, his cocking popping out of my mouth with an unladylike slurp, and grabbed my hand, placing it on his painfully hard erection.

"You- You don't want me to-"

He shook his head, "Not this time. Need to . . . to see you. Your eyes. Kiss you."

"Okay," I agreed, moving to slide up and over to his side.

His eyes caught mine, his a burning gold as Chevexo'i demanded, "**The other side, Isabella**."

"Oh, um, okay," I moved to the other side, laying on my left side, wrapped in Seth's strong arm with my head on his shoulder as I worked his turgid flesh. I licked my palm and tightened my grip, working him faster with firm strokes - the way I'd seen him stroke himself sometimes when we masturbated for each other for fun once in a while.

His breath caught and his arm tightened around me, his other hand coming up to cup my cheek as he gazed into my eyes until the pressure finally broke and he had to close them to survive the pleasure/pain of his orgasm. His mouth closed over mine in a desperate kiss and he thrust into my hand, crying out into my mouth as hot ropes of pearly cum erupted over his stomach and my hand, dripping down my wrist. He came and came. I felt my eyes widen at the incredible sight. I'd never seen so much cum at once.

He let go of my face and reached down, rubbing my hand, massaging his creamy tribute into my skin.

That's when I realized what he'd done, why he asked me to switch sides. He was rubbing his scent into my wrist, over the scar left by James's and Edward's bites. He was marking me again without tearing my flesh like they had. His burning eyes met mine and he nodded once, confirming my thoughts; he and the wolf were marking me, every part of me, as _theirs_.

✫.¸¸ . ✶*¨*. ¸ .✫*¨*.¸¸.✶*¨'*✫

* * *

_**End note:** I realize this is going to seem like a LOT of freakin' lemons by the time I'm done, but there's a purpose to all the sex. I'm not writing a story that's all sex for the sake of sex here. By the time I'm done, you should feel as spent as Seth's cock. ;)_


	8. Ch 9: Lovin in Season of Lemons, Part 3

**A/N: **_Please forgive the experimentation in this chapter. Some of you asked what's going on with Jake. All I can say is_—_a whole lot of batshit cray-cray. Jake's mind is bouncing around a lot, present and past are going to volley back and forth and sometimes meld. Jake's flashbacks are italicized, but his thoughts are not, past and present. His thoughts will waffle back and forth between past and present in the same way that his visions will_—_to convey his movement back and forth through the tribe's history. I hope it's not too terribly confusing, but that's why you're getting this A/N, to allay any confusion before you dig in and end up lost. ;)  
_

_Please forgive the POV switch mid-chapter as well. Sometimes, it just has to be done!_

_Bella's flashbacks will be italicized as well._

_Oh, and if you were wondering why all the sex, this chapter explains it._

_I totally thought this was going to be a short chapter with the flashbacks, but at nearly 7700 words, it's obvious I'm a big, fat liar—even to myself. I own it. So sue me. I'm a dirty, wordy girl._

**Pre-Readers: madmamabear, SuperGirl-Gem, MP, and SparklingFae have all lent a hand with different aspects of this story, so I'm calling them all pre-readers to give credit where it's due. Seriously, temples should be built in their honor.**

**No Beta, so all errors are entirely and unfortunately mine, as per usual.**

**Epitheteer: Johnnyhandro**

**Banner Made By Mist**

**Rating**: **MA, for hottie, hot, hots-and-tottie wolf-lovin'. I'm goingto have to start writing this in front of an air-conditioner. Oh, and BTW, Fae and Mist, count up those lemons and limes, my lovely ladies! Part III finds us at a grand total of 19 lemons and limes in Parts I thru III, with Part IV just around the corner. I OWN this challenge!**

**Disclaimer:** SM owns, but Seth's wolf would tell you he belongs to no one but his Isabella.

* * *

✫.¸¸ . ✶*¨*. ¸ .✫*¨*.¸¸.✶*¨'*✫

**Chapter 9: Lovin' in the Season of Meyer Lemons, Part III**

"Life is an interesting journey. You never know where it'll take you; peaks and valleys, twists and turns. You could get the surprise of your life. Sometimes, on the way to where you're goin', you might think 'this is the worst time of my life', but you know what? At the end of the road, through all the adversity, if you could get to where you wanted to be, you remember whatever don't kill you makes you stronger and all the adversity was worth it. On the way to the top, you'll do anything, but how do you get your life back when you get there? Yeah, that's my dilemma." ~T.I. "Live Your Life"

**Jake POV**

Running.

We ran.

We're running, caught between past and present.

We run.

Paws strike the earth nimbly, despite my size, dodging through ancient redwood, cedar, and sitka, narrowly avoiding the ghostly visions rising from the mists of the midnight forest; visions of wolf packs fighting leeches, rending stony limbs from crystalline, inhuman walking corpses with screeching voices—soulless corpses bent on death and destruction.

Ancient battles are waged on every millimeter of sacred ground as the packs of the past and present fight to protect our people.

The visions were soft, grey and misty at first, but with every strike of paw to earth, the intensity increased until the apparitions were as solid as Embry and me as we ran.

I could no longer discern the difference between today and the past. I needed Embry.

"_Talk to me, Emb. Keep me here_," I begged in the pack mind.

"_I'm here, Jay, but I don't know how to help. What's happening?_" Embry begged desperately. his mind reeling at the onslaught of information and imagery.

"_I think- I think I'm learning, the spirits are showing me our history. You're my anchor in the present. You'll need to stay with me. Bells knew. I think she knew this would happen. If anything goes wrong, get Bells_," I ordered before I lost myself to the past.

We ran.

The one thing I relied on for peace, an escape from thoughts and feelings too nebulous to understand, too complex to allow my human mind to cope with; it was running.

Now, even that tenebrous island of calm was lost to me, to us. The wolf was every bit as lost as I was in the whirling maelstrom of past and present.

The wolf had been through this before. He fought me, fought to give us over to the tempest of emotion and memories. I fought back. It was too much all at once to just open wide the door and be swept away. I wanted to open the door between the physical and spiritual worlds, but slowly, acclimate to it by tempering the present with bits of the past first, learning how to sift through the information as it came. The wolf was a more physical, less cerebral being. He could and would gladly give himself over to it just to have it over and done. I wanted more. I wanted to understand. I needed to.

The rain came down in sheets, an unceasing backdrop to the present and an echo of the same in the past; sometimes downpours, often just ceaseless rain, occasional drizzles, and deafening thunderstorms that pinched and clawed at my sensitive eardrums, even in visions.

With every stride, my foot struck the earth, my paws digging into the soft loam and leaf litter of the forest floor.

Every stride was a step in the direction of either understanding or madness. Neither would come yet. Either of them could.

Every strike of paw to ground was like a shock to my central nervous system, lighting me up, blue to green to yellow to red, the synapses charged with lightning heat, pulsing as new ones formed, connecting me forever to my land, to my people.

* * *

Thump.

Paw strikes ground.

My spine throbs, searing synapses spark to life, neurons thrum, and through my brief connection to the ground, to tribal land, an instantaneous network of those interconnected neurons, crackling with long disuse, join me for the briefest of moments to every inch, every speck, every occupant, living or dead, of my sacred tribal lands. My newly discovered senses stretch out through my lands like the root system of a tree with no trunk. The leg becomes the trunk, each of them at different intervals connecting briefly to the ground through my paws. My mind, the tree the root system feeds and, finally, I understand.

This is a kind of muscle memory for Alphas, this sense memory—the connection to the land, the people—it's how we carry on without losing the wisdom of those who came before. Oral traditions can be lost, but not this sense memory. _This_ is why we fought so hard for our lands. It is a part of each of us and we are part of it. As Alpha, this knowledge and experience is mine to draw on to lead my people. My strength does not come from my body or even from my spirit wolf. My strength lies in the wealth of human experience shared with me by my tribe, lives lived and experience won the hard way—through grit and determination, adamantine loyalty to the Alpha Chiefs of eras gone by, faith in the spirits, belief in the warriors, and compassion for one another.

Our neurons firing on a potent lupine hormone cocktail not unlike methamphetamines to a human, they pulse, throbbing to life with every strike of earth beneath our paws. The hyper-connectivity with my land rocketing at the speed of light through my system lights up an all-consuming electrical pulse with every step.

With every stride, every strike of paw, I'm bombarded by images, scents, sounds, memories, visions, battles, wars, wolves, cold ones, births, deaths, keening sobs, aching belly laughs, aged wisdom, and more.

I run the borders.

My borders.

My lands.

I run my lands and I learn the history of my people.

_My_ people.

* * *

_Joy Ateara sobbing over Big Quil's grave after his body is recovered from an accident at sea._

_Tiffany Call cradling her belly, round with an unborn Embry as she talks to him about his ... father._

_Joshua Uley walking out on Sam and his mom, Allison. _

_Sam's heartbroken three year old voice calling out after Josh into the storm, "Daddy?"_

_Sam, crying himself to sleep in a tiny bed with a small, stuffed dog tucked under his arm for company._

_Big Quil's fight to keep his tiny fishing vessel afloat in that final storm._

_Bells and I, playing in my backyard when we were seven and five and a half years old respectively, making mud pies and playing Pass It Down the Alley with my five year old shadows, Quil and Embry._

_Quil, always big for his age and a little rough, giving Bella a too-hard shove with his shoulder and her sitting in the mud, looking up at him with eyes like a little adult, reproachful and disappointed, before Embry and I rush to her aid. _

_She brushes us off, standing and reminding Quil, "That's not how you're s'posed to treat girls, you know." _

_Quil answering, "But, Bells, you're not a girl, you're one of us." _

_Bella's face lighting up, "You think I'm one of you?" _

_"'Course, if you're friends with us, you must be," Quil says firmly with all the certainty of his five years._

_"Five and a quarter," a later Quil memory solemnly reminds me._

_Ephraim Black kissing his future wife, Martha Young, Emily's great-great aunt on her father's side, brushing his fingers over the mark on her throat and making her shiver in delight._

_Emily is my cousin._

_Paul, physically and emotionally abandoned by both of his parents at little more than thirteen years old, just trying to get through the day_—_hell, the next hour_—_wondering where his next meal will come from and how long it could be before he eats again._

_My mother's last breath and final thought behind the wheel of her destroyed Monte Carlo as she listens to my cries and my sister Rebecca's hysterical wails from the backseat, "My babies, you're okay, love y ..."_

_Shy first kisses on our driftwood log on First Beach. Me and Bella, the summer before she turns 15 and I turn 13._

_Me convincing her to share her first kiss with me before some boy she hardly knows just hauls off and kisses her, stealing it._

_Bella admitting shyly she's already had a first kiss, but she doesn't think it counts because it was a friend and a girl and of course that doesn't count, she babbles inanely to herself, so I lay one on her, stiffly holding her shoulders and kissing her awkwardly the way boys do for the first time._

_I move my hand down to her elbow, brushing her boob with my wrist. She pulls back, resting her forehead against mine and muttering, "You try to cop a feel right now and you will lose that hand, Jacob Ephraim Black."_

_I laugh and wrap my arms low around her back instead. She knows me so well. She laughs, too, laying her head on my shoulder, one arm tucked between my shoulder blades, fingers combing through my long hair, the other hand resting on my throat, whispering, "I'm glad it was you, Jake."_

_"Me, too," I grin into her hair. _

_An eight year old Paul, laying fresh and clean after a hot shower in a bed that smells like Bella in a warm, familiar house, clutching a stuffed animal that looks familiar, too, and taking comfort from a night spent away from home, a night spent with the kindly Chief of Police of Forks, Charlie Swan, while Paul's mom sobers up in a cell overnight._

___A newly-phased Quil, red-faced and furious, heaving a school book through the door of his bedroom in frustration, "GODDAMNIT!"_

_Collin, my little cousin Collin, laying in bed burning up with the fever before his change, moaning in agony from the pain of his bones growing literally overnight._

_Aunt Connie weeping at his bedside as my dad quietly whispers the legends and holds her hand._

_Jared, always happy Jared, losing his shit, punching the wall beside his terrified imprint Kim's head when she quietly suggests they not join the pack for another bonfire because she doesn't think the pack is a good influence on him if he's not going to make her and school his top priorities._

_Jared caving to the imprint because his will is hers and he has no choice. Again. No choices of his own, not ever again._

_Brady, running wolf, chasing Collin, acting like the puppies they are, Seth nipping at their heels, reminding them of their responsibilities while the three of them run patrol together not long after the two youngest pups' first phase._

* * *

We treated Seth like a pup, but he never really had the chance to be a kid; losing his dad and phasing all at once, he became the man of the house, a wolf, and a Tribal Elder all in the same day. His mom held his place on the Council of Elders until his 18th birthday, but Seth knew his responsibilities to his tribe from day one. Despite his sunny disposition, there was a very serious man underneath, even if we rarely saw it.

The memories of tribe assaulted me again, bringing me out of my own mind and ruthlessly submerging me in theirs.

* * *

_Embry, taking Bella out on their disastrous first date, playing the steadfast role of my wingman and sacrificing himself and his own genuine interest in her as her rebound guy for my sake._

_Seth, sitting by her hospital bed, soothing her fears and distress as she gets her stitches and goes through her first round of rabies shots. He wants to kiss her. She wants his kisses, but they suppress their need for each other out of loyalty to me._

* * *

Shame welled up within me, spilling over into poor Embry's mind. He stumbled, trying to keep pace and make sense of the tapestry of a millenia of memories unfurling in mine.

Wait ... ? Rabies shots? What bit Bella? My eyes narrowed as I considered the possibilities. _Who_ bit Bella?

Embry gulped and tried to blank out his mind, ostensibly to make this experience easier for me, but I could tell he was hiding something. I would know eventually. I would see everything. I knew that was where this bombardment of tribal sense memory was headed. I needed only to hold on for the ride long enough to know everything.

* * *

_A younger, devastated Leah, realizing she is frozen in time as long as she is forced to continue phasing; no Sam, no children, no future because imprinting is rare and she might never imprint, forever stuck in a superhuman body she resents._

_Bella, cooking up a mountain of food on her weekends and holidays home from school._

_Seth, delivering that food quietly and anonymously to several homes on the rez, homes I recognize. Seth takes his role as an Elder very seriously and Bella supports him. They both take on extra jobs to help the less fortunate on the rez. Her friend, Haze, helps anonymously, using her winnings from several competitions, sending them home with Bella._

_Quil and Embry, talking in hushed whispers about me, wondering if __**it **__is getting worse._

_Bella, away at school, laying in a too-small bed, sniffling from homesickness_—_an emotion so out of character for her, I wonder if it is really her. A gorgeous dark-haired, native girl with haunting amber-grey eyes pads quietly into the room in a lacy magenta bra and kelly green cotton boy shorts. She's tiny like Bella, with full breasts and hips, a tiny waist. She's curvy, but muscular, a little more athletic than Bella. _

_The girl is Bella's friend, Haze. _

_Hazel._

_Hazel is different._

_She climbs into bed with Bella, kisses her softly, soothing touches between the two of them, not just friends. So much more. They've known each other for years, since they were kids at Camp Haluwasa, their summer camp in northern Oregon._

_Hazel and Bella, sitting by a fire on a beach with palm trees while a man_—_a very large man they know as Nui_—_a man nearly as large myself, speaks with pride, and a little exasperation, of their accomplishments. _

_Dancing, a special honor accorded to few in their tribe, Bella and Hazel being honored by being asked to join in some ceremonial display of strength and vitality. _

_Bella knows the name of it, the haka. _

_Hazel is pleased and pleasantly surprised by the honor._

* * *

Wait, why were Hazel's memories mixed in with our tribe's? Bella's made sense. She was the marked mate of a wolf. What was Hazel to our tribe?

I shook my head and let the memories flood back into every corner and recess of my consciousness as I plunged back into the oncoming tide.

* * *

_Bella, panting, breathing hard, thrashing, freaking out in her sleep, assaulted by memories, every rasping breath a struggle._

_The cold one, James._

_Phoenix._

_The ballet studio._

_The pain._

_Excruciating pain._

_James's nostrils flaring, becoming aroused by her pain._

_Her terror as he touches her breast, realizing his intent._

_Her mind shuttering, protecting itself as best it can from reality as his hand touches the button at the front of her jeans._

_The sound of the denim tearing._

_Cold, hard hands clawing, fracturing her pelvis, teeth tearing her skin, worse than being violated. Infinitely worse_—_being violently mutilated, defiled, and consumed by an animal. No. A bear would have been kinder. It would have killed her first rather than playing with her to hear her screams. _

_Edward Cullen's feral snarl as he arrives too late to save anything but her miserable life. _

_The sounds of shredding steel as she loses consciousness._

_Attempts to take her own life._

_Riding the motorcycles._

_Thoughts of cliff-jumping._

_Fidgeting in a bathroom_—_Charlie's bathroom_—_with a razor, wondering how long it will hurt before she bleeds out._

_A phone call from Hazel comes at just the right time, begging her to come with her to a surfing competition. _

_Bella puts down the razor with a shaking hand._

* * *

I sobbed, all my grief and regret over Bella's pain and hopeless despair leeching out into the pack mind, forcing Embry to phase human momentarily to escape the blast radius of my incendiary rage and self-loathing.

I shook and whined, pacing, pacing, pacing, whimpering with no one for comfort to ease my grief but my wolf who couldn't empathize. Nothing in the warriors' experience had taught him how to cope with this kind of grief. He was better at bite, gnash, kill.

Embry phased back in, reminding me, "She's okay now. Seth will take care of her. So will the pack. We have her now, Jacob. She's okay. No one will ever hurt her again."

I nodded in agreement, but I wondered how true that was. Could I make it true? Could I protect her? Was I strong enough?

I would find a way. Bella deserved nothing less than my best.

* * *

_Waking in Hazel's arms. _

_Hazel crooning quietly in her ear, offering to call Seth._

_Seth on the phone._

_"Bella? Bee? Are you okay with Hazel? Do you need me to come?"_

_"No, I'm- I'm okay. Her brother [slurring words] got my meds."_

_"I'll come anyway. Someone can cover my shifts."_

_"No, no ... [slurring] here, Haze?"_

_"Seth? She'll be okay. This is her first anxiety attack in a long time. She'll be okay. If she's not back to feeling like herself by tomorrow, my brothers and I will make sure she gets to the clinic, okay? They're here in town. We can count on them for help."_

_Bella's rise to consciousness early one morning, the warmth of Hazel's embrace, her kiss, "Mmm ... I'll miss this when I go back home."_

_"Me, too."_

_"Don't go."_

_"Just for a few weeks, then Tahiti, then a month with Nui and your mom in the islands. We have half the summer to laze in bed and pretend boys who break hearts don't exist."_

_Hazel's giggle._

_Bella's rising lust._

_Hazel asks, "Things with Seth? They're still pretty casual? Nothing serious there?"_

_"Haze ... I love him, but it can never be anything more serious than it is now. There are things, tribal things, they interfere."_

_"Tribal things you can't discuss," Hazel looking at her knowingly._

_Bella shakes her head, biting her lip sadly in silent apology._

_Hazel strokes a hand down Bella's cheek, "You'll always have me, Bee, always have this, if you want."_

_She runs her hand down Bella's ivory throat to her breasts, cupping them gently, soft strokes over warmed skin and pebbled nipples as she kisses her, a lingering kiss, a tug of teeth on her bottom lip._

_Bella kisses her back, shifting, tangling their legs together as they undress each other, "I know. I'm so glad I have you."_

_Hazel moans under Bella's skilled and eager touch._

_"I love this color on you," Bella breathes as she removes the hot pink bra from Hazel, nipping with teeth and tongue at the coral tip of one hefty golden breast._

_Hazel giggles, "But you love it more on the floor."_

* * *

I struggled back to the turbulent surface of the present, my mind reeling, my wolf furious and snarling, still pacing, pacing, pacing.

A member of our pack, _my_ _pack_, had been brutally raped and nearly murdered at the hands of a deranged vampire and we had done _nothing_. Then she struggled for months with the desire to take her own life to end her physical and emotional suffering while we sniffed around her and hit on her like an asshole. It appeared that she might still have nightmares or some kind of PTSD caused by the attack and we had done nothing but add more stress. We had failed her time and again in every possible way.

The wolf whined at our perceived failure, his fury ticking up several notches during my indulgent self-flagellation.

I sat back on my haunches and calmed my mind, speaking directly to the spirits for the first time since Mom died.

I quietly prayed for Bella's full recovery and thanked the spirits for sending her Seth and her girlfriend Hazel.

My wolf, respectful of my intercession with the spirits, waited until I finished, then roared, an enraged, feral beast on the tightest of leashes. He gnashed his teeth. He wanted to bite, to chase and bite and _kill_ the things that caused our packmate pain.

Our Alpha female; _the pack's,_ not _ours_. The realization hit me like a ton of bricks and my wolf's fury overflowed the retaining wall of my control.

My grip on his leash was tenuous at best and sliding every second as I nearly slipped into a fugue state of despair over the part I had played in Bella's life the last two or three years. It's no wonder she resented my unwanted sexual interest. Could I have been a worse best friend?

Embry remained a silent, horrified witness to the events playing out in my mind courtesy of the spirits.

He didn't know what to think.

Neither did I.

The wolf growled and took up pacing again as the memories of the tribe overwhelmed us both once more.

* * *

**Bella POV**

I slipped quietly off of the couch, padding silently out to the kitchen—thanks to my new werewolf mate upgrade—to avoid waking Seth, leaving him to sleep off the effects of our marathon marking sex celebration and another preternaturally significant handjob from which my wrist was still a bit crusty. The wolf wanted the scent embedded there, so he'd re-marked me again with his, ahem, _musk_ during the night and insisted on letting it dry on my skin afterward.

I snorted.

Supernaturally poignant handjobs were not something I ever thought I would be mulling over in the Clearwaters' kitchen—_my kitchen_, it was more or less _my_ kitchen now—at one o'clock in the morning.

I sighed, thinking the baby and I needed to rehydrate pretty badly after all the, er, fluid exchange, then remembered a Pinterest recipe that Hazel found while we were in Bora Bora on spring break for making homemade Gatorade that nearly everyone has the ingredients on hand to make.

I searched out the bowl—another large woven basket of Quileute origin—of ugly lemons Seth mentioned earlier and scoffed at his description. They were quite pretty, actually. The lemons were an excellent way to replace electrolytes, too, I decided.

I fished out Sue's old blue Juice-O-Matic, a cutting board, and a good chef's knife, deftly slicing a bunch of lemons in half to press for lemonade. There had to be about 9 or 10 pounds of lemons in the massive bowl. They must have been in season or on sale that Sue had picked up so many.

Really, so many lemons at once _was_ a bit excessive. [Chrissi smirks with one eyebrow raised and stares pointedly into the audience, waggling her eyebrows.]

I was feeling a bit off; nauseated and a little tired, I supposed, as I rubbed a palliative hand over my unsettled tummy. As I gazed down at it, I realized I must be a bit further along than a mere six or seven weeks if I was suffering from morning sickness and already beginning to show. I let my mind drift back to my women's health classes, remembering it was rare to show before ten or twelve weeks, which would put me at closer to three or four months along.

Wow.

Counting backward to my arrival date in Forks, I realized I could very well be four months pregnant. Easily.

I smirked as another thought occurred to me.

_Even if I hadn't been pregnant when I came home this weekend, I most certainly would have been after tonight._

Seth and Chevexo'i had been practically possessed with their need to make to love to me and cover me with their scent this evening, ever since we left the pack meeting.

Not just me, I surmised, replaying the night's events in my mind, flushing at the things I'd let them do to me—things we'd certainly never done before.

* * *

_I nestled between Seth's legs in the spacious garden tub in his newly-renovated master bath, a tub easily fit for a bather or two of werewolf proportions. Seth was explaining earlier that Sam, Jared, and Paul had helped him with the finish work after he'd installed the big stuff on his own, with a little help from Sam who'd gotten him a wholesaler discount on the new fixtures and tile. The pack was making an effort to try to retrofit each of their homes so they'd be more comfortable; raising showerheads and installing larger soaking tubs for aches and pains being their first priority. Twelve hour patrols could make even werewolf backs ache. A big tub was becoming a necessity for many of the pack._

_Seth soaped and lathered me leisurely, occasionally stroking bare fingertips down my abdomen, exploring my newly rounded curves, dipping a surprise finger between my folds now and then just to watch me squirm._

_"Mm ... that's scratchy. Quit it," I admonished him, twisting away and rubbing my thighs together for a bit of friction._

_"Are you letting this grow back?" he asked, referring to my lightly fuzzed bikini area._

_"No, just overdue for an appointment to take care of it. Sorry, honey," I apologized._

_"Don't apologize! I was just curious. I could ..." he said tentatively. _

_"What?" I demanded._

_"I could shave you myself," he offered on a whispered breath, with the lightest of kisses to my temple._

_"Mmm ... as lovely as I'm sure that would feel, waxing is quite a bit less uncomfortable in the long run, but you could massage me there with shaving cream. It'll be almost as good," I promised, letting a teasing note leak into my innocent tone._

_He growled._

_"Does your wolf like the sound of that?" I teased._

_"The wolf doesn't understand why you remove the hair at all. He's worried your pussy will get cold without its protective pelt," he rolled his eyes, amused._

_"Pelt? ! Chevexo'i! Contrary to popular slang, my pussy is not a __**beaver**__," I huffed indignantly, crossing my arms and inadvertently pushing my breasts up high. That set off Seth __**and**__ his wolf._

_He picked me up out of the water and sat me on the edge of the tub, spreading my legs, "He says we should check, just to be sure you don't have a rodent problem."_

_I splashed and thrashed, smacking at Seth and carrying on, "Rodent problem? ! I'll show you a problem, Chevex-"_

_He shushed me, steadying my hips, and lowered his mouth to my hot, honeyed cleft, silencing my furious rebuttal and making me forget all about his wolf's antiquated ideas._

* * *

_He coaxed me back into the tub afterward with promises of soothing my aching muscles and trying something new._

_We were fairly adventurous young lovers. I blushed, trying to think of what undiscovered things he could possibly mean that we hadn't tried yet. _

_I found out quickly when he pulled me into his lap, my back to his chest. _

_I gasped, then moaned as he sheathed himself within me without preamble, my eyes rolling back in my head. He and his wolf were on a mission and I was only too happy to go along for the ride._

* * *

_Later, we lay on the plush pale green rug on the bathroom floor, temporarily sated, lying head-to-foot and leisurely exploring one another's' bodies with eager hands and searching fingertips. By unspoken decision, we eventually rolled onto our sides. I took the fat head of his cock into my mouth just as he plunged two fingers inside me and began lapping at my slit._

_I never got the chance to taste him that time either. He pulled away at the last second, capturing his release in his large hand as I broke, keening cries bouncing off the bathroom tile as he finished me off._

_I felt the strangest sensation as I fell back to earth; Seth's cum-covered hand massaging my wrist._

_"We just got out of the tub!" I said, exasperated._

_"__**I know**__," Chevexo'i's voice rumbled, his eyes intense as he finished his task._

_I rolled my eyes. There is no reasoning with a mated wolf._

_I wondered silently if I'd ever be able to go out in public without a cum-crusted forearm again. _

_Quil and Paul would never let me live that shit down._

* * *

_We nearly made it back to bed when I remembered I wanted to change the sheets after our earlier sweaty rounds after the mess of the pack meeting. The sheets on the bed now really wouldn't do for sleeping. _

_I begged Seth to set me down so I could go grab a set._

_He grudgingly obliged, following me to the linen cupboard so I wouldn't overdo it. As if getting a sheet set would sap my strength. I loved them, but Seth and his wolf were taking this tending to their mate business a bit far for my modern, independent way of thinking._

_I did have to stand on my tiptoes a bit to grab the correct size sheet set, but I never got my hands on them._

_The sight of my bare back and ass set his wolf off again._

_He grabbed me from behind, turning to find a wall to push me up against. Finding none near enough to suit him, he settled for the closed door next to the open closet._

_He cradled me tenderly so as not to hurt the baby, but he took me, hard, up against the door, roaring through his release as I blubbered incoherently, pressed between him and the door, riding his thick, demanding cock, pinned with one of his legs to the door. I pounded an open palm against it in fervid assent and then I was falling and Seth was falling with me._

_Seth chuckled against my back, "I can't wait to tell Leah it was __**you**__ who broke her door."_

_"I didn't break it. It was clearly not a well-made door. Shoddy craftsmanship is hardly my fault. It probably wasn't even installed correctly—an accident just waiting to happen. I did her a favor," I said in mock seriousness._

_"Um ... Bee? You broke it in half. You get her to buy your crappy door theory and you should tell her I've got a bridge to sell her, too, while you're at it," he snickered. Then he sobered, checking me over carefully, "You're okay? No splinters or ... jeez, you could have been impaled or something!" _

_He was starting to freak out as the wolf ramped up his protective instinct._

_"I'm fine, I swear! Let me show you," I pulled his head down for a kiss and the next thing I knew, he was brushing the mangled pieces of wood off to the side so he and the wolf could check me over, head to toe, carefully, without missing anything._

_I sighed in his arms and gave myself over to his tender ministrations as I began to climb that familiar mountain once more, my passionate response to him and his wolf not even close to waning._

_We lay on the floor later and I moaned, not in passion, rather in discomfort._

_"Whaffumattuh, Bee?" he rumbled against my collar bone._

_"My back hurts. Sex on the floor is not all it's cracked up to be," I said, trying to pull my limp body up into a sitting position._

_"I can fix that," he offered, lifting me with one arm as he whipped the mattress off of the bed with the other and stuffed it under me._

_"Mmf ..." I mumbled into the mattress, trying to find a comfortable position. "It's still kinda lumpy."_

_"Here, try this," Seth proposed, laying down and lifting me to lay over him, arranging my legs on either side of his waist. He lifted his hips once, rubbing the tip of his cock against my molten sex and I was gone; his craving, breeding mate, little more than a wanton tramp, greedy for his cock._

_He tucked my feet into his sides under his hips and laid me back in his arms, lifting me, doing the work for me, taking me along for the ride and I was gone._

* * *

_I rubbed at the dried, crusty evidence of my wolf's claim on my wrist and let him bend me over the couch. It would seem he needed to mark every damn thing tonight. _

_Not that I was complaining, but ... "I can't believe you fucked me ... ungh ... in your sister's ... mmf! ... in your sister's bed. She's going to ... uuuuhhn ... kick your ass."_

_He pistoned me from behind, never breaking his pace as he retorted cockily, "I didn't fuck you in her bed. I fucked you on the floor, several feet from her bed. It's just unfortunate that her mattress fell off the bed like that, isn't it?"_

_I laughed. "Fuck, Seth! Don't make me laugh! I'll squeeze you out!" I shimmied, trying to reposition myself so he could sink back into me. He pumped into me one last time and held and I thought he might be coming without me for the first time, but he was just strategizing, the sneaky fucker._

_"I think I want to try something else," he said, drawing it out like he was thinking it over, "Something like this."_

_He pulled out and repositioned himself against my ass._

_I looked at him over my shoulder with hooded eyes and waited, panting._

_"__**Do you trust me?**__" Chevexo'i asked._

_"You know I do," I said, my voice wavering only a little._

_"__**I have generations of warriors' experiences to guide me. **__**I would never do anything to hurt you.**_ I will always take care of you, but if you don't want this, you need only say the word._"_

_"No, I do. I want this. I want you," I answered, shuffling my legs farther apart, dipping low, offering myself up to the wolf. "Show me how good it can be," I begged._

_And he did._

* * *

Bands of corded coppery muscle enveloped me from behind, Seth's hot mouth pressing a kiss on the soft skin behind my ear. He held me, ghosting a hand up my arm, capturing my hair in his hand to keep it off of my shoulders and throat so he could nibble on my mark.

"Good morning, my beautiful mate," he growled low, one hand drifting lower to brush a tender greeting over my bump to wish the baby a good morning as well.

"Mmm ... good, erm, not-quite-morning, my handsome wolf," I hummed back, sinking into his embrace as I lay the knife and lemon I was cutting down on the cutting board.

"You know," he mumbled against my throat, "if you marked me, you could be calling me your mate, too."

"I'm already your mate!" I protested, turning in his arms, not relishing the idea of drawing his blood again. Once today was enough, I thought. It was needed for the ritual aspect of the marking. Blood still made me a little queasy, though, and being pregnant on top of that, I wasn't sure wolf blood was on my early bird specials menu.

"Almost," he corrected. "I'm _your_ mate because I gave you _my_ mark. You have yet to gift the wolf, in return, with _your_ mark."

I worried my lip between my teeth, glancing up to his eyes to gauge his reaction when I asked, "It's important to your wolf, isn't it?"

"It is," he confirmed solemnly. I could see the barely concealed hurt in his eyes, though, and I felt ashamed.

I placed my hands on either side of his jaw and gazed deeply into his eyes, dark chocolate pools that I could drown in if I let myself fall, "Ohhh, my Chevexo'i, why didn't you tell me before?"

"**We don't want to pressure you. Your mark is a gift that you should only give when it feels right**," the Beta timber washed over me reassuringly without censure for waiting to claim them in return. They'd been so patient with me and I'd missed all the signs that they both needed the reassurance of my mark; the endless love-making, the scent-marking, the desperate need to care for me and see to my needs first. I was a selfish child, a fool. I'd let myself get carried away and ignored _their_ needs.

"**No, my tiny, precious mate, mother of my pup**," he said gently, caressing my abdomen with a small smile on his face. "**Whatever you are thinking, you are wrong. I can see you disparaging yourself. Your face makes your mind an open book to us. You will mark us when it is time**."

"It's time," I whispered, brushing my hands through the hair at his temples. "Oh! Gotta rehydrate quick, though. You should have some, too."

I took a hurried sip and offered him one of the sports drinks I'd been making when he found me as I started to tug his hand to follow me.

"**A moment**," he begged when I couldn't move him. He poured some of the drink into a bottle and handed it to me, explaining "**You'll need it soon, and a snack after, for you and the pup**."

I acceded to his wishes in that. It was so little he asked, to take care of us.

I headed for the back door, his hand in mine.

"**Isabella, where are you going? It's raining. You and the pup should be inside where it's warm**."

"You'll keep us warm," I insisted, "but if I'm going to mark you, we need to be outside again, like the first time when you marked me ... and the second," I said with a shy smile.

His chest rumbled and I knew he was remembering the second time he marked me on the front porch earlier that evening.

"**Very well**," he agreed. "**The forest**?"

"Yes, I think so. Somewhere with a nice soft space on the forest floor?" I asked.

"**I know such a place nearby**," he confirmed, lifting me into his arms.

"Okay," I murmured, snuggling into the warmth of his embrace. "Take me there."

"**I will and when we get there, I'll ****_take you there_**** as well**," he smirked, coaxing another laugh out of me. I held the bottle to my chest as he strode out the backdoor, butt naked without a care in the world that someone might see us.

He jogged lightly across the back deck and down the back stairs, his long strides eating up the ground as he moved unerringly through the thick vegetation in the faintest pink and coral hint of astronomical dawn light.

Before I could consider how far we would need to go, he was slowing to a stop, placing me gently on my feet, "**This is it. It's on tribal land**."

I looked around at the tiny clearing, no more than a large bed of moss surrounded by sentinel redwoods and sitka spruce.

"It's perfect," I told him. I held out a hand in entreaty, lowering to my knees before him, "Come."

He joined me on the thick bed of moss, waiting for my leave to touch.

"When you marked me, on the cliff, you didn't take me from behind. Was there some significance to that? I assumed you would. The journals-" I blushed, trying to figure out how to explain what I'd read.

"**Times have changed, Isabella. Men no longer rule families the way they once did. A woman in this time is not under a man's dominion, so I took you, that first time, in the way of men in this time—as an equal. It was important to your young warrior as well. There is no ownership between us. The mark is a gift, one we give to each other in lieu of the modern gifts like engagement rings. It is not ownership, but promise, partnership.**"

"Is that what tonight has been, Chevexo'i? Have you and Seth been proposing?" I asked with a smile, stroking my hand down his chest softly as the rain fell on us, a whispering backdrop to our hushed promises.

"**We have**," he confirmed, a broad smile—my Seth's sunny smile—lighting up his features.

"Then let me show you my answer," I breathed, pulling his head down for a kiss, then another as his arms tightened around me.

I sighed into his mouth, and the wolf rumbled, a soft susurration in response, a contented lupine purr.

He pulled me into his lap, one arm supporting my back with a large hand between my shoulders blades for support, the other cradling a plump breast as he whispered, "So beautiful." Seth's voice. The wolf had left us to join together this time. I thanked him silently as Seth positioned himself to enter me.

I looked into my Seth's eyes and saw worlds of magic unfurling before us; the forest hushed, a golden-hued glow blurring out everything beyond this little slice of paradise we'd carved out of the wilderness.

He took his time, breaching my sex achingly slowly as he covered my throat and chest with soft, wet kisses. I held his head to my breasts, clutching him tightly, not wanting an inch of space between us as he finally sunk himself inside me. I settled right down to the base and began to rock slowly, the most exquisite torture, tilting my head back into the drizzling rain, reveling in the moment, feeling a calm connection to the land, the tribe, the pack, the wolf, and my mate.

I was lost in the wonder of the moment, the magic of it. The rain became a symphony of sound, the wind its accompaniment, and words I didn't even realize I knew bubbled up in my throat as I chanted an ancient song, a song of the women, women claiming their warriors, and felt connected for the first time to all the women who came before me, the women who loved Chevexo'i as I loved him. His mates, generations of them, loving him, and their warriors, just like me.

Seth held me, his eyes full of wonder as he, too, fell under the spell of ancient magic.

We clung to each other in the pre-dawn light, the rain; our song. We reached our climax together as the chant ended and I sunk my teeth into the muscle at the base of his throat, taking the wolf's blood into myself for the first time.

He threw back his head, baying at the early morning sky, man and wolf celebrating together.

✫.¸¸ . ✶*¨*. ¸ .✫*¨*.¸¸.✶*¨'*✫

* * *

_Review if you like, my lovelies._


	9. Ch 10: Lovin in Season of Lemons, Part 4

**_A/N: _**_This is the last part of the EPIC lemon lovin' chapter that I had to break up into four separate acts. We'll get back to the regularly scheduled story after this one!  
_

_I'm experimenting some more, guys. I'm switching this fic to 3rd person omni POV from this point on and we'll see how it goes. Let me know in the reviews, please. Is it confusing? Is it easier to read and track when you don't have to constantly check whose POV you're reading? I feel like it's easier to write, so it must be easier to read, too, I would think._

_While we're at it, please excuse my shameless Wolf Pack Ode to Super Troopers. I FLOVE that movie and so does my BFF, Em. We do this a lot. If you haven't seen it, you need to watch this video clip to understand:_

_ watch?v=mXPeLctgvQI_

**_The Fandom Choice Awards nominations window is closing this week, on Wednesday, November 20th, 2013. If you haven't cast your ballots yet, you should head on over there and take care of that ASAP! Follow the directions carefully to make sure you nominate your favorite fics and authors. Clicky the link below to check it out:_**

_Let's rec some fics while we're all here and making a crazy long A/N anyway. Things I read this week and loved:_

_"__**The Devil You Know**__" by Unseelie Sidhe. It's marked a Paul/Bella pairing, but it's not like any Paul you've ever known. My new favorite Paul. I'd jump that ornery fucker in a hot minute. You're going to need a sponge and a bucket, ladies. This is a panty-creaming Paul if ever there was one. He gives me the shivers. Sigh. I want more. Bonus: If you love a Bratty Jake, he's all over that in this fic. Super bratty, whiney Jake. So much fun! I love reading Paul spank Jake. (Speaking of, if there's actually a Paul-spanking-Jake fic out there somewhere, I'm all over that like stink on shit. I'm a perv. Send it to me.)_

_"__**The Major and His Demon**__" by BetterinTexas. I know I'm late to the fan fic party and many of you have probably already read this, I'm sure, but I've never read a Jasper/Bella fic before and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I thought BetterinTexas's Jas/Bella fic would be a good place to start. I can't imagine what I was thinking. BiT doesn't write like anyone else. There is NO FUCKING WAY other Jas/Bella fics are like this one. I'm a dyed in the wool wolf-girl, but if you haven't read this fic yet, you should. I [heart] this Bella so hard ..._

**Pre-Readers: madmamabear, SuperGirl-Gem, MP, and SparklingFae all lend a hand with different aspects of this story, so I'm calling them all pre-readers to give credit where it's due. Ass-kissing should be happening right here, people.**

**Still no willing beta for my wordy shit, so all errors are entirely and unfortunately mine, as per usual.**

**Banner Made By Mist**

**Rating**: **MA, for nudity, wolfy-weirdness, wolf-lovin', and way more 'fuck's than were strictly necessary. Oh, Fae and Mist, my lovelies, count 'em up. I only needed one more lemon or lime in this part to hit my target of 20. I smashed that fucker. ;)**

**Disclaimer:** Remember how I don't own shit? Yep. Still don't own a fucking thing. It's SM's sandbox and I'm just a squatter in it.

_Wondering what I was listening to while I wrote this chapter? _

**_"Kisses Sweeter Than Wine" _**_by Jimmie Rodgers:_

_Well, when I was a young man and never been kissed,  
I got to thinking it over how much I had missed.  
So, I got me a girl, and I kissed her and then, and then,  
Oh Lordy, well, I kissed her again. _

_Because she had kisses sweeter than wine._

_She had, mm-mm, kisses sweeter than wine_

_Sweeter than wine ..._

Well, I asked her to marry and be my sweet wife,  
I told her we'd be so happy the rest of our lives ...

* * *

✫.¸¸ . ✶*¨*. ¸ .✫*¨*.¸¸.✶*¨'*✫

**Chapter 10 - Lovin' in the Season of Meyer Lemons, Part IV**

✫.¸¸ . ✶*¨*. ¸ .✫*¨*.¸¸.✶*¨'*✫

Bella clung to Seth, harsh breaths rasping over moist, heated lips as a chorus of howls filled the night-the rest of the pack answering the celebratory call of their brother wolf announcing his claiming to the spirits and the tribe.

The mystical euphoria bled slowly out of the gilded, magical moments the spirits had gifted to the warrior and his mate.

Bella felt the shift in the air from Seth's blissful relaxation to an edgy uncertainty.

Seth wondered if this would be a good time to propose or if he should put some pants on first.

Bella giggled, privy to this thoughts for the first time, and thought quietly that she'd rather he ask while he was still buried inside her.

He jerked away, startled, leaning back a few inches to look into her eyes.

"_You heard that?_" he thought. His cock, still hard within her, throbbed as he flexed to get her attention and she sighed at the pleasant stretch of her sensitive skin around his girth, looking up at him from beneath her lashes. She bit her lip and nodded.

His eyes widened, searching her face for the truth. Finding it in her earnest gaze, he accepted, as he had all the other changes in their relationship, this new facet to their joining.

The wolf rumbled in pleasure, then demanded, "**Do it again, Isabella.**"

She gazed into his glowing amber eyes and focused all her attention on one thought just for him, "_I love you, Chevexo'i, my mate."_

"**_And I, you, my bride, Isabella_**," he thought.

The corners of her lips tipped up in a pleased smile at the word 'bride'. "_Bride?_" she asked.

He threw back his head and laughed happily, a deep belly laugh that was nothing like Seth's. He held her close and let her feel his joy with her gifts and pleasure of the claiming, his gratification that the spirits had guided him to her as he asked her through their joined thoughts, "**_If you will. We would marry you in front of the tribe, the pack, and the spirits to declare our everlasting love and devotion. Will you marry us, Bella?_**"

She noted his use of Seth's name for her and realized they were both proposing, together. A wave of emotion swept over her from the two of them. She felt what they felt and she was overcome-too many feelings at once to quantify with his emotions overlapping hers in her mind-so she just held him and shared hers, too, humming aloud a soothing tune for her wolf.

The feelings fed on themselves, an orphic, rapturous feedback, and they crested the wave of orgasm together one more time, brought on solely by shared thought and feeling, his fiery offering rupturing like a geyser against her tender cervix. It mingled with her juices, overflowing her channel, seeping back out to soak their entwined bodies, covering them both in each others' scents one final time to seal the claiming as she breathed her answer, "Yessss ..."

The wolf gently nipped at her mark and she went limp in his arms, laying her head on his chest.

She panted, wondering how it was possible to climax solely from shared thought.

Chevexo'i had never known such a thing was possible-a pack mind induced orgasm?-unheard of.

He took her lips in his and gave her his thoughts in return, "**_Now we are mates _****_and_****_ pack, our own pack. This has never been possible with any of the warriors' mates before. You are truly unique, my Isabella._**"

✫.¸¸ . ✶*¨*. ¸ .✫*¨*.¸¸.✶*¨'*✫

They talked over their new connection as Seth carried Bella back to the house. She'd have preferred to hold hands and walk, but Chevexo'i, in his hurry, hadn't let her bring shoes when they'd left their very thoroughly marked den earlier. Seth enjoyed carrying his mate, even knowing how much stronger and capable she was becoming, so he carried her, not because he had to, but because it was a joy to have her tucked safely in his arms where he could smell her delicious milk and honey scent layered over the creamy, earthy musk of their pup.

"It's not exactly like the pack mind, I think," Bella warned about their newly discovered connection. "More like surface thoughts-things we might say out loud-not necessarily all the things happening underneath the surface. That's how it feels to me, anyway." She shrugged, unsure of how to explain how she knew what she felt.

"Yeah, I get that," Seth nodded his head slowly in understanding. "You don't need to know that my knee itches a little or that I just saw a bunny run across the path under a fern ahead of us on the trail. My mind processes those things, but I filter them out as unimportant-or you do. I'm not sure. It feels like a two-way radio or walkie-talkie, though, not like I'm thinking it and you're just plucking it out of my head where it lays waiting for you to hear it. "

"Yes! Exactly," she agreed excitedly. "It's an open connection."

She tilted her head thoughtfully, "I wonder if it will work with the rest of the pack or if it's just you and me?"

Seth shrugged, climbing the stairs to the deck, carrying his mate back into the heart of their den, but his wolf growled low at the idea of his brothers hearing his mate's most intimate thoughts.

Bella laughed, "Now you know how I felt before when they could hear you and I couldn't."

He nuzzled her in apology, "Sorry, honey. The wolf is a jealous asshole sometimes."

"I wonder what that makes me, then," she quirked an eyebrow at him.

✫.¸¸ . ✶*¨*. ¸ .✫*¨*.¸¸.✶*¨'*✫

Embry's wolf paced along the tree line behind the Blacks' house, letting Jake's rambling memories come and go as much as he could as he contemplated what to do. He wasn't with Jake's wolf at present. The wolf was running a tight patrol, not around La Push, but around the Clearwaters' house and out in a loop, keeping a respectful distance, but maintaining a tight perimeter around the space occupied by Seth and Bella in the woods.

Embry had seen something happening in real time through Jake's Alpha memory download from the spirits; Seth and Bella were making their way to a clearing in the woods and they appeared to be naked.

Again.

Embry's wolf rolled his eyes, well familiarized by now with Chevexo'i's sexual appetite for his Isabella.

Jake's wolf had become rabidly protective of the pair a couple of hours earlier-possibly responding to some memories Embry's non-Alpha mind hadn't processed through the pack mind.

He had no idea what to do for his Alpha or if he should intervene-and he couldn't get _past_ the ferocious fucker to check with Bella.

He needed a distraction, so naturally he thought of Paul.

He also wanted Leah's advice, which is why he was out in the woods like a goddamn creeper again, listening to see if Paul and Leah were asleep and hoping desperately they weren't sharing a bed because he did _not_ want to walk in on that shit twice in one day and with Paul's reputation, anything was possible.

He heard movement, so he took his chances and prayed Leah was in a decent-if not actually good-mood.

He yipped softly, the sound carrying across the clearing and through the open windows to the two pack members within. Leah sat up in Rachel's old twin bed and cocked an ear, listening, just before Paul knocked softly and poked his head in to ask, "You hear that?"

She threw off the covers and walked to the door to whisper so she didn't risk waking Billy who'd been restless all night for some reason, "Yup, sounds like Emb. He was running with Jake."

"They'd howl if there was a leech," Paul pointed out.

"Maybe it's not a leech. Maybe something else is happening," she said quietly as she slipped past him, padding softly down the dark hall to the back door.

She went out on the porch and whistled back, calling out, "Emb? Everything okay?"

Paul walked up behind Leah, pulling on shorts and looking over her shoulder into the woods.

Leah heard the soft 'shush' of the fabric as Paul pulled the shorts on behind her, "Ew. You came to my room naked?"

"No, I slept naked. I was wearing a sheet when I woke you up," he smirked.

She rolled her eyes.

Embry trotted silently out of the woods and yipped again, refusing to phase human.

Paul halted Leah with a hand on her arm, "I'll go phase and see what's up. We'll call for you if you need to come, too."

Paul trotted off into the trees to strip and phase while Embry stayed in the yard. He sat back on his haunches, communicating with Paul and looking expectantly at Leah.

Paul emerged from the woods a moment later and he and Embry both yipped the request for her to phase with them.

She skipped lightly down the stairs and jogged behind the garage, whipping her nightshirt off and flinging it onto a branch just as she disappeared around the corner.

Paul's wolf whined at the barely visible sliver of her naked back before she phased.

"_Dude, she'll neuter you if she catches you,_" Embry warned just before Leah phased in.

Paul scoffed and waggled his wolf eyebrows, "_She'd have to catch me first._"

Embry was intrigued. He'd never seen anyone leer in their wolf form before. He imagined Paul's wolf got quite a bit of practice, though. Paul leered at everything with a heartbeat, two legs, and big boobs.

Even the two legs were optional some days.

Leah phased in and caught the tail-end of Embry's musings, chuckling in a way that came out as a rumbling bark.

Paul's wolf sort of shrugged.

That set off both Embry _and_ Leah laughing until Jake's thoughts began to impinge on their consciousness.

Paul and Leah staggered under the onslaught.

Embry tried to reassure them, "_Give it a few minutes. It'll start to blur and you'll be able to ignore it after a minute or two._"

Paul's mind was reeling as he learned things he never wanted to know about people he knew on the rez. "_What the fuck is that?_" he demanded.

Leah was speechless as she tried to process it all.

"**_That _**_is what Bella did to Jake tonight at the end of the pack meeting. She unlocked some kind of woo-woo mystical portal between Jake and the spirits. He's getting this mega download of every thought, everything that has ever happened to every member of the tribe since the beginning, every battle, every birth, every death, every laugh, __**every-fucking-thing**__,_" Embry explained.

Then he rushed on to add, "_Oh and he's also frothing at the mouth, thinking like the wolf, and patrolling a tight circuit around Seth and Bella now for some reason."_

"_What? !_" Leah and Paul exclaimed.

Paul was the first to regain coherent thought, "_Seth will kill him if anyone interferes again._"

"_I don't think that's his intention. I think it's instinctual-he's protecting them. He knows something we don't, I think. I- I'm not sure, but that's the feeling I get. Seth and Bella are different-important to both pack and tribe and he's rabidly protective of them all of a sudden, but I can't find out why because I can't get to Bella to ask,_" Embry explained.

"_Did it occur to you to use the phone?_" Leah rolled her eyes.

"_Of course, but it's their honeymoon night, kind of. Do you seriously think they'll answer?_"

"_Oh, hmm ... well, no. I probably wouldn't_," she conceded.

"_Right, so I need a distraction to get past our deranged Alpha-_"

"_So you thought of Paul, natch,_" Leah snickered.

"_Right! So ..._" Embry trailed off as he felt something pulling, pulling his wolf, guiding him deeper into the woods.

Leah and Paul felt it, too, and followed, muzzles lifted, scenting the change in the atmosphere. Something was happening, some- some- something was c-

A hazy rose gold cloud of euphoria billowed through the early morning forest, like a wave of fog rolling in suddenly off the ocean preceding a storm. They were caught up, tossed in its rapturous current, all three climaxing simultaneously despite being phased wolf.

They lay panting on the ground in the aftermath when they heard the roar of their brother, heralding his marking by his Isabella.

Their wolves, caught up in the ritual of tradition, rose unsteadily to their front feet and called back, welcoming Isabella to the pack as mate, wife, and sister.

The rest of the pack joined in the chorus of howls, celebrating their new packmate.

The howls soon died out, leaving the three of them to wonder what the hell had just happened.

Paul rose to four legs first, trotting silently across the forest floor to snuffle over Leah's seated wolf. He nudged her with his muzzle, "_You okay?_"

"_Yeah, yeah, fine. It's-_" she caught herself before she admitted it had been a long time since her last orgasm and she sure as shit didn't want to think about how her brother's marking had triggered it from the neighborhood over.

Embry interrupted the moment before Paul could get swiped at for being too nosey, "_Don't mind me. I'm fine, too. Thanks for asking,_"

He struggled shakily up onto four paws, looking down between his forelegs at his sticky belly. "_Ew, except for that. What the fuck? Is wolf cum made of fucking wallpaper glue?_"

"Embry!" Leah was horrified. She did _not_ want to think about, talk about, or ever discuss what had just happened. Ever. She told Embry as much.

"_Lee, we don't know what happened. We might have to mention it to the pack. It might have happened to the others, too. They howled. Remember?_" Paul's wolf lay beside her, nudging her, comforting his packmate with touch. She nuzzled him back briefly before she caught herself. Her wolf was responding to Paul even when the human refused to acknowledge his affectionate display.

"_We need to get over there,_" Leah was determined.

"_Maybe after a quick dip in the river to rinse off?_" Embry said with a quirk of his lips in his mind's eye.

"Fuck, yeah. If Seth smells the lust on us, his wolf will lose his shit," Paul agreed, rising to his feet. He pushed his muzzle under Leah's flank to steady her as she stood, then circled Embry to check to make sure he was okay to run.

Leah cantered a few steps into the trees, throwing a saucy look over her withers at the two, "Race you to the river!" She shot off into the woods, the two silver wolves tearing after her.

✫.¸¸ . ✶*¨*. ¸ .✫*¨*.¸¸.✶*¨'*✫

The three of them gathered a little while later, freshly bathed in the river and trying to reason with their Alpha just beyond the tight patrol route he was maintaining around the Clearwaters' neighborhood.

They tried reasoning with Jake, but their voices were lost in the garbled nonsensical rambling of sense memories that flowed through the pack mind. The Alpha was on a mission to protect his brother and his brother's mate.

"_Okay, so maybe we were a bit hasty in cleaning up. We could have thrown Leah into his path. Horny she-wolf might be the only thing that will get his attention now,_" Paul surmised.

Embry gaped at Paul, thinking he had balls the size of Texas and Leah was about to remove them with her claws.

Leah sighed, knowing Paul might actually be onto something. She narrowed her eyes at the two of them. "_I'll do it, but I want two things made very clear. You fuckers don't look and I'm only doing this because it's Jake's wolf, __**not**__ Jake. The wolf should respond in some way even if Jake only sees me as his sister, so ... yeah. This isn't going to be weird or anything,_" she thought awkwardly.

She moved away from her brothers for some privacy.

Leah waited until Jake passed their position, reminding the two wolves behind her, "_I will gut you if you look,_" and phased out.

She stepped human-and nude-into the path of Jake's wolf on his next pass.

The Alpha stopped on a dime, three feet from Leah. His lambent golden eyes a stark contrast to the human eyes of Jake she was accustomed to seeing in wolf form.

Something was definitely off.

She dropped her gaze, baring her throat to her Alpha, and begged quietly, "Please, Jake. We just want to help. We need to talk to Bella. She knows more about this shit than the rest of us. You can't keep running all day and night and we can't patrol while this memory thing is happening in the pack mind. It's distracting and dangerous. We need you to phase out so we can do our jobs. Let us help. We just need to talk to Bella. She's pack. We promise we won't hurt her."

She kept her eyes lowered, but reached out a trembling hand to the distressed wolf.

He lifted his lip, baring his teeth in warning.

She dropped her hand and waited.

He stalked closer, silently circling her and snuffling over her bare form, sticking his nose into her neck to scent her-_Pack_, he decided-drawing his nose down over each arm to the delicate wrists and long elegant fingers of his sister warrior, back up to her shoulders, snuffling his warm, moist breath over her collar bones and between the high, firm cones of her coral-tipped breasts, dragging his muzzle indulgently across her taut belly. He looked up at her warily before circling behind her and dropping his head to her feet, running his cold nose up the back of each leg. She shivered. He snuffled over her backside and, in the way of wolves, between her legs, licking at the soft underside of one ass cheek in approval.

Leah restrained herself for Jake's sake, but only just. She knew he was all wolf right now. Jake would never have crossed her personal boundaries quite so thoroughly.

At least, she didn't _think_ he would.

The Alpha, finished with his inventory, sat back on his haunches and inclined his head regally toward Leah, giving her permission to return the greeting.

She was tempted to throw some clothes on first, but worried that an interruption in the ritual greeting would be seen as an insult to the Alpha. This was a whole new ballgame and Leah knew she had to traverse it as carefully as a stroll through a minefield.

She approached the Alpha, head lowered. He nudged her chin up with his muzzle, giving tacit permission to his sister to scent him just as thoroughly and she finally understood. This was a trust thing. He knew she was Pack. He wanted her to have the same reassurance.

She performed the ritual greeting solemnly, as if she were greeting the unknown Alpha of another pack. She remained phased human, but went through the same routine that he had performed, instinctively knowing that this was what was expected of her. Each of her brothers would have to do the same in order to approach their Alpha again.

She leaned into his throat, sniffing delicately at the comforting scent of his musk-_Pack_, she decided-as she drew her face up to his withers and made as if to kneel to run her nose down each leg, but he brought first one paw, then the other up for her to hold in her hands. Doing the same when she reached his rear legs, he lifted each paw in turn so she wouldn't have to kneel in the dirt to carry out her duty.

He sat back on his haunches once more as she sniffed at his underbelly, judiciously avoiding his swaying, mammoth wolf cock.

He huffed at her, annoyed.

She sighed, but gave in, sticking her nose as close as she dared without touching it, she just brushed over the long, silky belly hair around it.

The Alpha rumbled, pleased that she had performed the duty even though she clearly had not wanted to. Her submission pleased the wolf, not the touch itself.

She moved around to his back, running her hands and nose up his spine, and trailing a hand down each side of his tail while she sniffed there as little as possible. Again, the wolf was pleased she carried on despite her human displeasure at performing certain aspects of her wolf's duties.

Paul and Embry watched the scene unfold in the pack mind in awe.

Neither had ever seen a submissive Leah.

It was like they were seeing a unicorn for the first time.

A unicorn with two heads that shits rainbows and farts glitter.

The Alpha waited for Leah to return to his front where she stepped back and cast her eyes at the ground once more. He yipped and she looked up into his eyes in understanding, her back straightening as she let the heat of the phase slide up her spine, the sheer pleasure of it washing over her for the first time as she closed her eyes, phasing neatly at the Alpha's behest.

The Alpha timber echoed clarion through the pack mind, his thoughts uncluttered and clear for the first time in hours, "**_Chevex'ia, beta female, sister, you do your pack proud. We will go to Chevexo'i and Isabella. The others may follow. You will accompany me._**"

He stalked off in the direction of the Clearwater house, the she-wolf, Chevex'ia, loping along at his side, her fur occasionally brushing his flank as she addressed the Alpha directly for the first time, "**_Thank you, Shípa. It has been many years. It is good to see you again._**"

Paul was the first to find his voice again, "_What. The. Fuck. Was. That?_"

"_No idea, dude,_" Embry shook his head, trotting along beside Paul as they followed the imposing pair to Seth's house.

✫.¸¸ . ✶*¨*. ¸ .✫*¨*.¸¸.✶*¨'*✫

When they reached the backyard, Paul and Embry left Leah temporarily in charge of keeping their Alpha calm. He was beginning to fidget from remaining still for just a few moments.

Paul and Embry listened carefully before approaching the house ... and they were glad they did.

Bella's wailing moans carried over the quiet morning forest, punctuated by Seth's labored grunts with each thrust and slap of their hips.

The Alpha's chest rumbled with pleasure. His brother took good care of Isabella. It pleased the Alpha to know that Chevexo'i satisfied her so.

Embry, Paul, and Leah looked at him in exasperation, but the Alpha didn't balk. The happiness of his pack was second only to the safety of his tribe. Bella's sounds of pleasure were a balm to his shared soul.

He whined, shifting his weight back and forth from forepaw to forepaw. He needed to scent his pack. He needed to scent Chevexo'i and Isabella and check on their p- he stopped his thoughts, knowing some things a human like Isabella would prefer to reveal on her own.

"_We will, Jake, we'll go get Bells __**and**__ Seth, but I'm not wading into that shit storm for love or money until they're done. He's a newly-mated wolf and we don't know how he's going to react to being interrupted again. Well, I know, but I'm not taking any fucking chances. Bella's got a right hook like a goddamn battering ram,_" Embry said apologetically to their Alpha. "_We're going to need to phase human for a few minutes to go in the house. Can you- Will you be okay?_" He looked at the Alpha for confirmation.

The Alpha dipped his head in approval. Leah nuzzled his flank in reassurance and phased human with the others.

She joined Embry and Paul in the backyard, cocking an ear to listen to see if the newly mated pair had yet finished. She'd wait until they went back upstairs before approaching the house, if she could.

Bella gasped, her voice muffled by something as Seth groaned loudly and the erratic thumping finally ceased. Leah got an icky shiver down her spine as she realized she was listening to her brother bust a nut and knowing, based on the proximity and volume, he was busting it in the kitchen.

✫.¸¸ . ✶*¨*. ¸ .✫*¨*.¸¸.✶*¨'*✫

Inside, Bella and Seth were sweaty and satisfied-for the moment. She placed her hands on either side of his face, silently telling him again through their connection, "_I love you so much. I can't remember ever being so happy before._"

Seth replied, stroking a hand between their joined bodies, caressing their pup through his mate's soft, perfumed flesh, "_Me neither, and I can't wait to tell the pack about the pup._"

"_Soon, but not yet,_" she begged, eyes pacing back and forth between his, asking for his understanding. "_Things can happen in the first trimester. After the first ultrasound around twelve weeks, we'll make a big announcement to the pack._"

Seth growled at the thought of something happening to the pup, "_They'll know before then. They'll hear the heartbeat._"

"_So let them hear it and think they know something we don't. I just- I don't want to jinx it. I'm nervous for some reason,_" she worried her lip between her bottom teeth.

Seth kissed it, tugging her lip between his to suck on it as he thought, "_Whatever will put your mind at ease, I'll do. I just want you to be happy._"

"_Oh, yeah ... ?_" Her voice turned sly as she spoke aloud, ".. so if I wanted to finish marking the house ... ?"

"I think we've pretty thoroughly marked the house-" he started, shifting between her legs.

Bella interrupted, dancing her fingertips across the kitchen counter next to her bare ass, "Oh, no, Mr. Clearwater. I think you may have missed a spot ... right ... here." She jabbed her finger at the counter space next to them on the last three words for emphasis.

"Oh, really? Well ..." He slid her ass down the counter, back and forth a few times, rubbing her juices into the granite countertop. Bella threw back her head and squealed in immature, childish delight as Seth continued, "Oh, yeah, much better. I just remembered another spot I marked with you a year ago, but we haven't gotten to it yet this morning," he said, lifting her up and wrapping her legs around his waist.

"Ooh ... where's that?" she asked with a smirk, her voice and her pussy dripping with desire as Seth plunked her bare ass down on the kitchen table, the wood creaking with the force of his thrust as he sheathed himself within her before she could take her next breath.

"Oh ... Se-e-e-eth!" she cried, opening up for him once more, resting her feet on the curve of his ass below his waist as she leaned back in his arms and offered up her body for his pleasure.

✫.¸¸ . ✶*¨*. ¸ .✫*¨*.¸¸.✶*¨'*✫

Outside, the gathered pack members stared at the house in shock as Seth and Bella picked right up where they left off not a few moments earlier. They had been silent for a couple of minutes, recovering, then started up again almost before the two of them got their breath back.

They were beginning to understand why Jake had given Seth the whole of the week off.

Leah's mouth dropped open, "Fuck! Again? !"

Paul and Embry snickered.

The Alpha wolf rumbled contentedly, circling a spot in the grass and curling up to listen to the lovely sounds of his mating packmates-music to his ears.

"Yuk it up all you want, Alpha. You and I are supposed to be eating breakfast at that table in another hour or two," she reminded him, pointing at the house indignantly.

The Alpha huffed and all but rolled his eyes, _Humans. The Alpha human's breakfast would taste all the better for being overwhelmed by the scent of pack. _He considered that perhaps he should fuck a girl on the human Alpha's kitchen table and at the Uleys' home as well, since the pack often ate there.

He eyed up Chevex'ia and wondered how she would feel about scent-marking the former Alpha's home with him, dominating _Sam's_ space, covering it with their scents.

She might enjoy that. He would discuss it with her later.

The group listened intently for the sounds in the kitchen to wind down.

They heard a crash followed by giggles and deep baritone laughter before Seth's wolf's voice inquired, "**Isabella, are you injured?**"

She laughed, "No, honey. I'm fine. The table on the other hand ... you and Seth can explain that to his mom."

"Oh, for fuck's sake," Leah muttered.

"**Come,**" Seth's wolf said. "**Time to steal a few hours of sleep before the pack descends with their questions.**"

The wolves in the yard listened as Seth and Bella extricated themselves from the broken remnants of the kitchen table, Seth carrying Bella, as only one pair of footsteps could be heard ascending the stairs.

Paul raised his eyebrows, "It's now or never. If they go to sleep, it'll be hours before anybody can patrol with this thing that's going on with Jake."

They all looked to their Alpha as he lay curled up on the ground, his eyelids flickering as he catalogued the last seventy years of new information about the tribe since the last time the tribe's sense memory had been available to him to study.

✫.¸¸ . ✶*¨*. ¸ .✫*¨*.¸¸.✶*¨'*✫

Leah, Embry, and Paul stole into the house quietly, but not entirely silently, not wanting to startle Seth's wolf.

They took in the destruction in the kitchen as the scent finally hit them like a wall.

"Fuck!" Paul's eyes widened, his mouth watering at the luscious aroma of his packmates' lust, unashamedly readjusting himself in his pants as he hardened, his eyes flashing luminescent gold and eventually closing in rapture as he drew in the heady scents in the kitchen. "Did he fuck her all night?" He tilted his head back and opened his mouth, drawing breaths in deeply over his tongue and tasting the scents in addition to smelling them.

Embry was in a similar state, his eyes closed in sublime pleasure, "Fuck, that smells awesome."

Leah couldn't deny that her wolf was responding, but it was too weird for her to contemplate at the moment. She needed to do what she came for and get out of here, back to their Alpha before he slipped back into cray-cray land in his head.

"Come on, stop sniffing the Swan juice, you freaks," she tugged them into the living room, but it was no better there, or anywhere in the house for that matter. Seth and Bella had marked every square foot of her childhood home.

Right then Leah decided she was never moving back, "Sweet, fluffy pink fuck. I'm so glad I'm staying at Jake's."

They continued up the stairs, pausing on the landing as they heard a groan and a thumping sound-like a headboard hitting a wall.

"You gotta be fucking kidding me," Leah cursed, shaking her head in disbelief.

Paul had had enough, too, though. This shit was getting ridiculous. He respected a man who could fuck a bevy of women all night-had even tried to do it himself from time to time-but Bells was only one woman and definitely _not_ a wolf, despite her new marking skills. Seth needed to let the poor girl rest sooner or later.

Paul did what he does best, interrupting at the least opportune moment with a shaming bellow, "Aw, come on, tick-licker! Haven't you had enough monster meat for one lifetime? !"

The sounds behind the master bedroom door ceased a split second before Paul's body was launched down the hallway by Bella's shield, slamming him into the door to the attic at the end.

He huffed as he tried to gain his feet unsteadily, "Good one, Swan! Your aim's improving! I hit that door dead center!"

"I was trying to throw you out the window!"

Seth's snort was muffled, but he at least tried to hide it.

Leah and Embry didn't hide shit.

They laughed out loud.

Seth emerged from the bedroom to see what the gathered wolves wanted, hair sticking up in every direction, naked as the day he was born, and reeking of sex, "Is there some reason you're interrupting Bella and me or are you just being assholes?"

Leah caught sight of her bedroom door just then, "What the fuck happened _to my door_, Seth?"

Seth tried to hide his smile, calling over his shoulder through the partially open door, "Hey, babe? Leah wants to know what the fuck happened to her door?"

Bella mumbled, "Shoddy craftsmanship."

Seth snickered.

Leah peered around her bedroom doorway, "Aw, what the fuck, Seth? You fucked her in my room, too?"

Seth scratched the back of his neck, "Not on purpose. We fell through the broken door. Then we ... got distracted." He shrugged apologetically.

Paul looked at Seth appreciatively, then took an indulgent whiff of the comingled scents in Leah's room, "Fuck, Lee. No point in packing anything in here now. It all stinks like wolf spooge and Swan kitty."

Bella snorted behind the door to the master bedroom and mumbled, "Swan kitty." She giggled. "_MEOW_."

Seth's eyes widened comically and he grinned proudly at Paul, "You'll have to excuse her. She's _really_ _tired_." He laughed, trying to avoid looking at his sister because he knew he'd break and laugh right in her face if he looked her in the eye, but Bella wasn't done poking the angry Leah bear just yet.

Bella, with a smart ass grin on her face and in her voice, taunted, "I _am_ really tired meow, and you're freaking meowt, Leah. You should go meow. I'm not kitten."

Paul and Embry snickered.

Seth joined in, "Yeah, Lee, I think it's time fur you to go meow."

Leah narrowed her eyes suspiciously, "Are you two drunk?" Her eyes widened in shock when she noticed the scar at the base of Seth's throat., "Is that- Did she _mark you_? !"

"That's fur me to know and you to find meowt!" Seth choked out on a laugh, Embry and Paul gagging behind Leah, trying not to laugh as Seth made eye contact with them over her shoulder.

Leah was getting pissed, "What the fuck, Seth? So you two are a fucking comedy team now, too?"

Seth's head canted to one side in lupine reproach, his lambent eyes glowing gold as the voice of Chevexo'i reprimanded her, "**Mind your tone, she-wolf. That is our mate you're disrespecting meow.**"

Leah gaped at Seth, her face turning red with anger. He may outrank her in the pack, but he was still her little brother-

Paul and Embry started snickering as they turned tail and ran, hauling ass down the stairs.

Embry cackled, "Oh my god! Leah just got meowned by Baby Clearwater's wolf."

Leah's shoulders slumped in defeat, waving it off. Getting mad at his wolf right now was an exercise in futility. He really wasn't Baby Clearwater anymore. Time to do what she came home for and get the fuck out of here, "I'm done. I've had enough of this boy club shit. Jake's wolf is out back. He's losing his shit. We think he needs Bella. Can she come out and talk to him? Maybe help him phase back?"

"I'll be right down," Bella's muffled voice declared from behind Seth as she scrambled to find something to wear.

✫.¸¸ . ✶*¨*. ¸ .✫*¨*.¸¸.✶*¨'*✫

* * *

**End note:** _Review if you like, but please let me know how you liked or didn't the switch to third person point of view if you wouldn't mind. Tell me what you want to see in the next chap, guys! I have a ton of ideas and questions to answer, obviously, but I want to know what your most burning questions are so I can narrow down my focus for the next update. My notes are seven pages long as it stands right now. That's going to be a bit much for one chapter. ;)  
_


	10. Ch 11 - Black Hole

**A/N: ****_Couldn't sleep, so you get another update this week. It's a short one, but I hope it makes it worth sitting through all that porn the last few weeks. ;) Consider this my apology for making you all wait ten days for the last chapter._**

**Pre-Readers: madmamabear, SuperGirl-Gem, MP, and SparklingFae all lend a hand with different aspects of this story, so I'm calling them all pre-readers to give credit where it's due, but this chapter is a total surprise to them. I wrote this while they slept because I'm a sneaky bitch. ;)  
**

**Still no willing beta for my wordy shit, so all errors are entirely and unfortunately mine, as per usual.**

**Banner Made By Mist**

**Rating**: **MA, but not a single 'fuck' or lemon in the entire chapter. Just juicy, plotty, villainous goodness and a reintroduction of some folks you might know from SM's work. I must be losing my pervy touch. (That even****_ sounds_**** pervy.)**

**Disclaimer:** Still don't own a damn thing. I'm just a shifty-eyed squatter playing in SM's sandbox.

* * *

✫.¸¸ . ✶*¨*. ¸ .✫*¨*.¸¸.✶*¨'*✫

**Chapter 11 - Black Hole**

✫.¸¸ . ✶*¨*. ¸ .✫*¨*.¸¸.✶*¨'*✫

**_Meanwhile, in Volterra ..._**

"Master Aro?"

"Yes, Gianna?"

"The scout has returned."

"Ah, Santiago is back among the fold ... Send him in."

Gianna curtsied neatly and hurried to do Aro's bidding. Gianna knew that if there was one thing the Master despised, it was being kept waiting.

"He'll see you now, Lieutenant," she said, leaning through the door to the waiting area.

Santiago rose fluidly to his feet, brushing the lint and dust of his journey from his long, black trench coat. He passed the secretary, taking a gratifying sniff of her familiar, enticing human aroma as he passed, making his way rapidly through the maze of corridors to the throne room.

Two of the lesser Guard, Chad and Shawn, threw open the doors ahead of him. He waited in the doorway for permission to approach. The Volturi leaders adored all the ritual and pageantry of court life and demanded the Guard set the example of adherence for all those living among the Volturi court, whether they had a heartbeat or not.

Chad announced him, "Lieutenant Santiago, Masters."

"Dear Santiago ... come, come. Tell us of your findings. I must say, I nearly didn't recognize you in that plebian clothing. Where have you been that has you out of uniform?" Aro wondered.

"The United States, Master," he reported, entering the room and lowering to one knee, bowing his head in obeisance before the Volturi leaders.

"Ahh ... yes, I remember, the strange disappearances. Your findings?" Aro inquired.

He raised his head to look at his Master and deliver his account of the search, "The situation appears as has been reported, Master. Two covens and at least six pairs of mated nomads have gone missing over the last several years. The only thing they had in common was the area they were last reported to be passing through when they contacted acquaintances before their disappearances. There could very well be more disappearances than we are aware of since we only know of these missing groups because they were expected by others and never arrived nor answered repeated attempts to contact them later."

"Hmm ... very well. Demetri?" Aro called.

Demetri appeared at the foot of the dais on bended knee, "Master?"

"You have been working with Santiago?"

"I have. My gift allowed me to remain here with the Guard and guide Santiago to the last known locations from afar."

"Only the last _known_ locations? Did you not know any of the missing vampires?" Aro was surprised. They made quite an effort to keep each member of the Guard well-acquainted with the vampires they policed for just such an occasion. Surely Demetri had met _one_ of them.

"I have met several, Master," Demetri assured his master.

"Then why can you only confirm their last _known_ locations? Why not the exact point of their disappearances?" Aro demanded.

"I can only confirm that they disappeared somewhere within the Pacific Northwest of the United States, Master. I am unable to pinpoint the exact location. The entire area is fuzzy with something akin to white noise when I impinge on it, but one area in particular is more like a black hole. It is as if there is nothing from the coast of Washington State to Seattle. No humans, no vampires, no supernatural creatures of any kind. Just a blank space on the map that cannot all be attributed to the large forest there. Entire cities and towns do not register at all when I extend my senses to search there," Demetri said apologetically.

"Hmm ... how odd. A black hole-an empty vacuum-in your abilities? That _is_ cause for some concern," Aro decided. "You've had no problems tracking in other areas of the world?"

"No, Master. Only there."

"And this area was the last known feeding ground of no less than eight groups of vampires over the last ... what? Five years?" Aro wondered aloud.

Demetri answered, "Three years. Yes, Master."

Caius finally joined the inquisition of the scout, sneering, "Lieutenant, do you have anything _useful_ to report? Other than telling us what we already _knew_?"

Santiago nodded affirmatively, "The vampires I spoke to outside the zone of demarcation that Demetri has noted, they're ... well, they've made it quite clear that they have no interest in wandering into that area-the ones who are aware of the disappearances anyway. They advised against continuing on my own which is why I have returned-for further orders and a larger complement of the Guard if you order an extended investigation."

"Prudent, very prudent, Lieutenant," Aro nodded.

"We should investigate this further," Caius insisted. "A full cadre of our most gifted Guard-"

Aro held a hand up in a bid for silence, "No. The risk at this time is not worth the potential loss of Guards without knowing more before we proceed. Demetri, are there any covens known to claim the area of interest as their feeding grounds?"

Demetri hesitated before answering, " ... only the Olympic Coven, the Cullens, Master."

"Why do you say 'only the Cullens'?" Aro quirked a curious eyebrow at his captain.

"They feed on vermin. The area can hardly be claimed as their _hunting grounds_," he sneered.

Aro sighed, "Too true. Carlisle has always had the strangest ideas about how our kind could exist. Well, no matter. For our purposes, what they hunt is of little concern-only that they are familiar with the area. I want to know what they know."

Caius fumed, "You're going to ask a favor of the _vegetarians_?"

"I'm going to inquire as to the well-being of his family and the local news in his part of the world, as old acquaintances do from time to time," Aro waved him off, annoyed with his brother for questioning his interrogation tactics in front of the Guard.

"Gianna!" Aro called out.

The secretary came running into the throne room, "Master?"

"Place a call to my old friend, Carlisle Cullen. I'd like to speak to hi- No, no," Aro shook his head, changing his mind, his voice turning sly. "Summon him, his entire coven. I want to know what they know about Washington State. Send him the traditional summons. We'll call this a state visit as Carlisle is our chosen ambassador in North America."

✫.¸¸ . ✶*¨*. ¸ .✫*¨*.¸¸.✶*¨'*✫

_A few days later in Montana ..._

Esme Cullen waited an appropriately human length of time for the mailman to walk back down the drive before she rushed to the front door to collect the unusual package he'd left on the porch along with the usual post.

The residents of their new hometown had no reason to suspect the Cullens of any odd behavior so far and Esme wasn't about to risk that now, though she couldn't imagine the family remaining here for long. Emmett had chosen this particular town solely for the purpose of needling his brother.

Esme sighed. Things just weren't the same since they'd left her favorite home along the Sol Duc River in Washington. If she were being truly honest with herself, it wasn't the house that she missed. She sighed again. She missed Bella. there was no denying it and her usually playful son, Emmett-he was practically inconsolable. He missed his little sister. He hadn't spoken to Edward in months. Not that Edward was here. Edward couldn't bear to be near the rest of them these days while they mourned their missing daughter and sister. His grief was great, but combined with theirs, it was unbearable.

Esme made a conscious effort to pull herself together, gathering up the mail and the strange package. The scent on it wasn't familiar, but it was vampire, which she found odd. She flipped it over and read the address label:

**SIG ARO VOLTURI **

**CASTELLO VOLTURI 1**

**00101 VOLTERRA AA**

**ITALY**

**Amb. Dr. Carlisle Cullen**

**913 Swan River Road**

**Big Fork, Montana 59911**

Esme's stone heart clenched every time she read their address. She knew Emmett was hurting, but every piece of mail she sorted twisted the knife in her breast. She didn't know why Carlisle had agreed to the move to the home Emmett had found, except that there was more than ample hunting for their large family in the nearby Glacier National Park, Flathead National Forest, and Swan River National Wildlife Refuge as well as the desperate need the small town of Big Fork had for a skilled general practitioner. Carlisle spent his days administering vaccinations and wiping noses at the family clinic in town and maintaining a schedule of rounds at the tiny local hospital so he would have privileges there in times of great need.

Still-the address and the name of the town-she knew they were Emmett's way of not only remembering Bella, but of punishing Edward for forcing them to leave her. Emmett had adored Bella.

Their children ... Esme missed them, all of them. Emmett and Rose were the only ones who returned home with any regularity. Edward was traveling, for lack of a better term, nursing a desperately broken heart, and Jasper was on an extended trip with her darling, depressed daughter, Alice, who was trying to shop away her despair at having to leave her best and only friend behind in Forks, Washington at her brother's insistence.

Alice had an entire room full of things she'd bought and stored here at their home-things she picked up that would have been perfect for Bella-lovely green and blue dresses and sweaters that would have played up the naturally pink tones of her flushed skin, makeup that would have made her cinnamon eyes sultry and mysterious, and even swim suits for the water pursuits Alice's visions of the future had shown Bella enjoying these days at school and on vacations-visions of Bella surfing and free-diving with dolphins, cliff-jumping in the islands, and even scuba diving in exotic climes with a rotating group of equally lovely friends all interested in similar pursuits. Bella had even been water-skiing, in Hawaii of all places! The visions were the hardest part for Alice-knowing Bella had not only moved on, but moved on to a life lived in the sun.

Esme made her way to the kitchen, sorting the mail and stacking it in neat piles for her children to pick up whenever they came and went. Edward's pile had become quite large during his extended absence. Esme took to sorting out the junk mail to make it look like he hadn't been gone quite so long, but his pile of unopened mail still required a box to contain it all.

The sound of two cars pulling up the drive caught her ear as she was sorting the last few pieces of mail. She recognized one as Carlisle's new Jag, but the other car wasn't as familiar. She carried the unopened package addressed to her husband out to the living room to see who had followed him home.

Her face lit up as her beloved Emmett and Rose emerged from behind the darkened windows of the Audi R8 parked behind Carlisle.

She tossed the package on the coffee table and rushed to the door, flinging it open and ghosting down the stairs into the arms of her youngest son, "Emmett!"

He swung her around with a playful growl, mumbling into her throat, "Missed you."

She turned to her daughter, folding her into a less exuberant, but no less eager hug, "My Rose."

"I missed you so much. We were gone too long," Rose apologized, hugging her back.

"Nonsense, you needed some time," she said, wrapping her arms around her mate next. "So, where did you find our children?"

"I didn't. They tracked me down at the clinic. They arrived just as I was setting BettyAnn Eider's arm again," he chuckled.

"Oh, no! What was it this time? !" Esme clapped an amused hand over her mouth, her eyes dancing with mirth.

"Apparently, having her arm in a cast is no reason for BettyAnn to quit climbing trees with her best friend, Joey. This time, _he's_ the one who fell, but he fell from the tree fort above her, knocked her out of the tree, and landed on top of her, breaking her cast. On the plus side, her body broke his fall. He doesn't have a scratch on him," Carlisle's lip twitched with humor. "Those two remind me of ..." he trailed off, looking at Esme in apology.

She ran a soothing hand up and down his arm in understanding, "... Bella and her childhood friend from La Push, that Jacob-boy. I know. Me, too."

Emmett and Rose grew somber, casting concerned glances at one another. It didn't look like anyone was getting over their missing sister. Not that Rose much cared for having Bella as a sister, but it hurt Emmett to be without her and that made her sad, too.

Esme clapped her hands once, breaking the somber silence that had fallen over the four of them like a suffocating blanket, "Well, it's good to have you two home. There's a package for you, Carlisle. From Italy. An old friend, perhaps?"

She retrieved the package, handing it over to Carlisle. He turned it over in his hands several times.

It didn't escape Rose's notice that Carlisle handled it a bit like a human would a live snake, with his fingertips and as little as possible.

Carlisle slid a finger under the flap and removed the heavy vellum missive within. He was silent for several moments while he read and re-read the summons.

Esme's curiosity got the better of her, "What does it say?"

"We've been summoned," he murmured quietly.

"By whom?"

"The Volturi, all of them. This is not a letter from Aro to a friend," he explained, holding it up to show her the official seal in red wax. "This is an official summons for _Ambassador Cullen_ to attend a state visit to Volterra."

"When do we leave?" Esme began calculating what they would need to take and what would still be usable at their small, out of the way villa in the Italian Alps from their previous visit several years earlier.

"As soon as I can arrange for coverage at the clinic and hospital. I'll go make some calls. In the mean time, track down Alice and Jasper. We'll need Alice to help us find Edward," he started up the stairs, but Esme stopped him with a hand on his arm.

"Edward?" her face lit up, her voice excited at the prospect of her seeing her first adopted son again soon.

"Yes, we'll need to find him as soon as possible," Carlisle fidgeted, rubbing his hand over his brow and clutching his temples.

"But ... why? What's the hurry?" Esme was perplexed by Carlisle's agitated demeanor.

"Because we've been summoned. _All of us_. We're going to Volterra."

"I don't understand. We've been asked to visit. We've never been invited as a family before. Isn't this ... a _good_ thing?" Esme's confusion deepened.

"Aro summoned all of us for a reason. Aro has a gift. With a touch of his hand to yours, he will know every thought you have ever had. Everything you know, he will know," Carlisle explained.

Rose and Emmett froze, looking at each other in horror as realization dawned.

Esme was still puzzling it out when Carlisle spelled it out for her, "He will know everything every one of us has ever thought, including that we left behind our human daughter who knows about vampires and that she hasn't been turned, nor killed, as per vampire law. They will know that we broke the law."

Carlisle's desperation spilled over as he clenched the porch railing in his fist, splintering the wood and turning it to sawdust at his feet as he turned his worried gaze on his family, "They'll know everything about Bella and they will correct our error in leaving a living witness behind. Bella Swan's human days are numbered."

✫.¸¸ . ✶*¨*. ¸ .✫*¨*.¸¸.✶*¨'*✫

* * *

Dun, dun, dun ...


	11. Ch 12 - The Bite of Ginger

**A/N:** _I have two apologies to make. The First: Sorry for the delay with this chapter! It was so hard to write! I took two and a half weeks to finish this update because, as it turns out, I am a bigger angst/drama pussy than I realized and I kept running away from my own story because I couldn't handle getting into Bella's head space in the one part of this chapter. I'm a big sissy girl. I own it. Thank you for being so patient with me! Props to Meliz, madmama, and Fae for talking me through taking my first crack at some emotional writing. Thanks, ladies! The Second: I apologize in advance for the ridiculously wordy A/N and end note at the end of this chapter, but there's a lot of info to convey because it has been a really busy couple of weeks!_

**Award Nominations:**_ You may or may not have heard that the __**2014 Fandom Choice Awards**__ Nominees were posted on Monday night __and__ that I got nominated! __**I'm up for **__**Best Breakthrough Author**__**, **__**Best Erotica**__**, **__**Excellence in Editing**__**, and **__**Most Prolific Reviewer**__**.**__ Thank you guys so much for nominating me and my story! 'Thank you' barely covers the depth and breadth of my gratitude. I'm humbled by the overwhelmingly positive response to this, my first fic. I've only been doing this for two months and I'm obviously learning as I go. Thank you so much for your patience with me and the experimenting I indulge in occasionally in this fic. I was floored to discover I was nominated, but to be nominated in four categories really just rocked my socks. You guys are awesome! (That nomination for Best Erotica really made my toes curl. If I win that one, I'm totally getting a shirt made declaring myself the Sultana of Smut. Just try and stop me!)  
_

_If you haven't voted yet, go check out the link on my FFn profile page and cast your vote ASAP! Voting ends January 3rd! I also need to extend my thanks to Dragonfly (dragonfly76) for trusting me to beta her original work, "Nobody's Angel" on Tricky Raven, thus attempting to prove myself worthy of my nomination for the Excellence in Editing category. It's a captivating novella. You should check it out if you haven't seen it yet! You'll be just as hooked as I am in no time!_

_URL for Tricky Raven and FictionPad readers: . (You may need to switch browsers to vote if Blogger's formatting won't let you scroll to cast your votes in every category.)_

**Recs:**_ I'd also like to extend a nice, big 'welcome' to all the new readers who found my story over the last week or two thanks to Fic Central's Weekly Wolf Fic feature as well as those who found me because of CayStar's rec from her amazing Sam/Bella fic "Into the Woods". If you haven't checked it out yet, you should definitely put it on your to-read list!_

**This Chapter:**_ This chapter is a bridge to the 2nd act, so expect the pace to pick up just a bit from here. Who's ready for some Hazel? _

**Pre-Readers: **madmamabear and SparklingFae

**Beta: **madmamabear and CayStar (I've had several kind offers the last two weeks for help with beta-ing. I appreciate them all very much! Thank you madmamabear and CayStar for volunteering to beta for me!)

All three of these lovely ladies-SparklingFae, madmamabear, and CayStar-have also been nominated in the FCAs! Please take the time to check out their work if you haven't already and consider voting for them and their stories as well!

**Banner Made By Mist**

**Rating**: MA, strong language, adult situations, discomfiting Alpha practices...

WARNING: This chapter contains strong scenes, including violent flashbacks and an allusion to assault and rape as mentioned briefly in an earlier update. I do not and will NEVER write a graphic rape scene, but there is a scene that is intended to express an incredibly violent encounter. Read at your own risk.

✫.¸¸ . ✶*¨*. ¸ .✫*¨*.¸¸.✶*¨'*✫

**Chapter 12 - The Bite of Ginger**

✫.¸¸ . ✶*¨*. ¸ .✫*¨*.¸¸.✶*¨'*✫

When Seth stepped back into the bedroom, Bella was already bent over rifling through the things she'd left behind over the summer, looking for something decent to throw on.

She growled in annoyance, "Didn't I leave anything other than lingerie and swimsuits here?" Seth reached into the duffel bag with a huge, shit-eating grin on his face and pulled out a shiny, black latex micro miniskirt.

Bella grimaced and rolled her eyes, "Besides _that_?"

"I think you are seriously underestimating the value of the micro mini as the new power suit and shoulder pads of the modern era, babe."

She barked a surprised laugh, chuckling as he continued, the cheeky amusement sliding away as he approached his next suggestion cautiously, "I have something ... err ... else. I was saving it for your fall break next month. I don't know if it's necessarily the right- umm ... the right thing for you to wear to see Jake in, though." He frowned and rubbed a hand uncertainly across the back of his neck.

Bella looked up at him warily, "What is it?"

"A robe?" he said, as if it was a question, shifting uneasily.

"A robe? Uh ... that sounds perfect, honey," she said pointedly, sitting back on her heels, confused by his nervous twitching.

"Seth, you're tweaking like a crackhead. What the hell is wrong with you?" she demanded.

He slipped past her and retrieved a pretty golden box from the closet, setting it on the bed. It was tied with a pale pink ribbon in a neat little bow. "It was supposed to be a surprise. I was going to ask you to come over to decorate the tree with me the day after Thanksgiving and I know you get chilly- er ... _got_. You _got _chilly. I guess you don't anymore, so ... yeah."

"Um, okay ... I don't see what the big deal is, though," she said as she lifted the lid on the box and pulled back the tissue. Her hands froze and a little sigh escaped as she stroked the soft brick red cashmere, "Oh. I see."

She lifted it out of the box and gently shook it out, twirling it over her shoulders to shrug it on and running her hands indulgently over the sumptuous fabric. "You meant to put it on me so you could butter me up and take it off me later," she said with a smirk and a wink. "This would do it."

Seth scowled at the proportions on her, "You're so tiny, it's knee-length on you! It barely covered the mannequin's ass in the store. I got _robbed_," he pouted. "Huh. I guess it'll be okay then. Paul's going to sneer no matter what you wear when you walk out there. Oh, and there's some special panties, too," he said, retrieving a beribboned packet of lingerie out of the bottom of the box.

Bella looked at the artfully-folded panties in surprise, "No polka dots?"

Seth shook his head, hiding his smile as he removed the ribbon, "You know me so well, but no. I thought you might like something a little more grown up than my usual taste in shreddable unmentionables. See?" He held up the lingerie for her; three pairs of dainty silk tanga panties dripping with expensive, barely-there French lace-a pair each in vivid crimson, shocking peacock blue, and a shimmering gold.

Bella finished tying the robe around her middle as she looked at her presents and smiled at Seth sweetly, "You spoil me. These are La Perla. There's a small fortune in lingerie here."

"My work is selling really well. I got a nice chunk in savings, fixed up the house some, put a new engine in my truck ... What's left to do but spoil my girl? And _her_ girl?" he leered. "Look in the box. I picked up a few for you to give to Hazel, too."

Bella peeked in the box. Sure enough, there was another bundle of panties tied with a silvery ribbon; panties in shades that suited her Hawaiian best friend and lover-plum, emerald, and coral.

She quirked an eyebrow at him, "It's a special kind of man who buys panties for his girlfriend's lesbian lover, Seth Clearwater."

He chuckled.

"Maybe I'm still hoping you'll share some day," his eyebrows ticked up in amusement and he nipped her bottom lip, following it up with a quick kiss to soothe the sting.

"Maybe I _will_ share someday if Hazel's up for it. Goodness knows you've been patient and understanding enough about me and her," Bella admitted as she warily eyed the red panties Seth held out to her. She was leery of handling them too much due to her new strength. She was doing mostly okay so far, but the silk undies were so delicate, she worried she'd tear through them like a tissue.

Seth, as he had so often in the past, knew what she was thinking and adapted, holding the panties out for her to step into and sliding them up her long, lean legs with a whisper of silk. He took a moment for himself, stroking thick, eager fingers through her soft, pink folds, gathering the fluids pooling there from their combined efforts to lick from his fingertips, immersing himself in her scent. He buried his nose briefly between her thighs, inhaling deeply, before tugging the panties up into place.

Bella shuddered with desire.

Seth wrapped his arms around her ass and growled into her hip. The scent of her and him melded together into a heady aphrodisiac for his wolf. By supreme effort of will, he managed to pull himself away and stand.

He frowned at Bella, thinking over the last few words she said before he got caught up in her scent. He cupped her face gently in hands that suddenly felt like giant, clumsy paws compared to her tiny features, "Hey, I told you. This," his right hand ghosted down her throat to touch her mark and trail down her arm, making her shiver with want, "_doesn't_ mean I own you. My wolf has never viewed Hazel as a threat to us. Besides, Hazel had a claim on you long before we did."

He raised her left hand to his mouth, drawing in the stronger ginger scent from the tiny teeth marks on the meaty part of Bella's thumb-Hazel's teeth marks. He kissed the small, twin crescent scars there.

"We were eleven-two very human little girls at summer camp-when that happened. I'd hardly call that having a claim on me," she scoffed.

Seth 'm-hmm'd in mocking disbelief.

"Later," she promised, smoothing her hands down the smooth, hard slope of his shoulders. She patted his bulging biceps, giving them a squeeze-just because she loved to feel his muscles go taut and flex under her fingertips the way they did-before reminding him they'd been called on to assist the pack with whatever was going on with their Alpha. "After we see what's going on downstairs."

Seth stepped back to look her over. She was flushed pink and looked thoroughly well-fucked. (Chevexo'i rumbled in pleasure.) There wasn't much he could do about the long, slim sliver of skin visible from her throat to her belly button because of the style of the robe, but, otherwise, it covered her from her neck to her knees, the long sleeves covering the dried, recently-refreshed layer of wolf jizz on her wrist.

Bella caught him looking at her crusty wrist with pleasure and rolled her eyes. _Wolves._

"Let's go. I'm already feeling a little warm in this," she pleaded, moving to the door, but Seth beat her there, easing ahead of her so he could lead the way in case she slipped and fell down the stairs.

Bella, not being slow or stupid, realized his intent and tried to check her impatience. She also tried to resign herself to the idea that his being overprotective was instinctual and not misplaced machismo because she was certainly more than capable of taking care of herself thanks to her mate's mark. She knocked Embry on his ass with one well-placed punch, and he killed vampires as a hobby. If that wasn't proof enough that she could manage to keep herself alive, she couldn't imagine what would allay Seth's fears for her and their pup.

She rubbed absently at her wrist as she followed Seth down the stairs, then swiped the back of her arm across her suddenly damp forehead. She couldn't imagine how the pack coped on the rare occasions when they had to dress head to toe in regular street clothing to blend in at tribal functions or run into town. Five minutes in half a robe and she already felt like she was roasting in her own juices. She looked forward to stepping outside with the pack for a few minutes to cool down, praying for a little misting rain to help keep her comfortable in the required clothes. Bella was actually beginning to resent the need for clothes and the wolf pack's mindset about shirts-or the lack thereof-was making a_ lot_ more sense to her now.

Embry met them at the sliding glass door in the kitchen. One look at Bella had him sliding it open wide to let the cooler outside air in, tempering her fevered discomfort, "Bells, he's- Jake's not himself. I'm not sure you should go all the way out there. Maybe you could just stay on the porch 'til we know what he's thinking or ... umm ... just 'til he starts making some kind of sense."

Seth's posture went rigid and a hand snapped out to block Bella from the door, his hand palming her belly, "What do you mean?"

Embry shifted nervously, keeping his eyes cast down just below Seth's, not quite able to look his new Beta in the eyes, "He spent all night running like a horde of freshly-turned vamps was gunning for him while the spirits jacked him up with a couple thousand years' worth of the tribe's memories. He's more wolf than Jake right now. We're not even sure if Jake is in there or if he _can_ phase back. We think he just needs to see you to know you're okay.

"He kinda went nuts an hour or two ago-started running a tight perimeter around your place instead of around the rez. I kept up the patrol around the rez as long as I could, but I was worried when he started tightening his patrol perimeter in on your place, Seth. I didn't know what he was going to do-especially after the pack meeting and everything. That's when I went and got Leah and Paul to distract him so I could come get you. Then this weird greeting thing happened between Leah or Leah's wolf and Jake's wolf. Honest to fuck-I don't know _what_ the hell is going on out there, but Bells is the closest we've got to an expert on weird shit, so I figured she'd know what to do."

Bella sighed, "My reputation once again precedes me-the girl who's good with weird shit." She scratched at her wrist again, paying it no mind, but Seth noticed.

Seth _noticed_. Studying her closely, he looked his mate over more critically. The skin around the scarred, silvery crescent that peeked out from beneath her sleeve was red and looked irritated. Every visible millimeter of her skin was covered in a light sheen of sweat. The robe, he knew, was warm, so that could account for it, but not that painfully red skin on her wrist.

"Bells-" he began, but was interrupted by a longing howl from the forest beyond the tree line in the back yard.

Bella's throat unconsciously formed an answering ululation in answer, the sound escaping from her mouth unconsciously.

Seth met Embry's concerned gaze.

Embry stepped into the open doorway between Bella and whatever was happening outside in a bid to protect his human pack mate from the unknown.

Bella growled in displeasure. It seemed everyone she knew topped the six-foot mark and every time one of them stepped in front of her to protect her, she lost her perspective on the imminent danger. As if she didn't have _enough_ trouble recognizing danger for what it really was.

She ducked around Embry and padded almost silently on bare feet out onto the deck, all but dancing down the stairs. She pulled up short before the bottom step as Jake's wolf emerged from the trees, flanked by Paul and Leah who were phased human.

Embry darted past Bella to join the others in case the Alpha moved to intercept Bella as Seth came to stand beside her on the stairs. "You want him to come to you or do you want to go out there? You don't have any shoes on," he reminded her.

"Out there," she whispered. "Don't you feel it? The pull?" She looked up at Seth, her eyes pacing back and forth between his.

Seth 'hmm'd, answering, "Yeah, but I'm a wolf. I always feel the pull to the forest."

"It's so strong. How do you ever force yourself back into the house?" she murmured.

"I have _you_ to come back to. That's incentive enough," he replied honestly with love in his eyes, wrapping his arm low around her back and giving her a gentle squeeze.

She wanted to lose herself in the moment, in the depth of his gaze, but she was becoming agitated the longer they stood there. Shifting, her body turned instinctively toward the forest and the other wolves. Bella leaned into the irresistible pull to the land, to pack.

"Seth," she whimpered, "I need to- I need to- to go-"

"One second," he begged, "please? I just want to grab-" he was back in the blink of an eye with an old quilt, "this. You might want to sit down out there if Jake is having trouble phasing back."

She nodded, then released her locked joints, the relief of surrendering to her urge to join them carried her down the stairs like quicksilver, flowing to the bottom. She rose to her full but diminutive height as her bare feet finally touched tribal land for the first time since she marked Seth and completed their joining.

She gasped, the kinesthesia of the awakened land sharing the tribe's history with her overwhelmed her momentarily.

Jake's wolf sagged, the tension in his body seeping out the moment Bella's feet touched tribal land.

Then Seth stepped to the ground as well and they took a deep breath collectively, heat sliding up their spines, lighting the three of them up from within as the bond sealed. Pack.

Bella opened her eyes in wide wonder.

She could feel them, Shípa and Chevexo'i, Jacob and Seth. The other pack members as well, but the connection to Jacob and Seth was more ... harmonious, a collaboration of thought, symbiosis with the land. She knew who Shípa was, felt his long-time friendship with Chevexo'i, a generations-old friendship, the loving respect of pack and brothers in arms, and ... something _more_. Something deeper.

It felt so ..._ good._

Shípa chuffed his agreement, taking another step beyond the trees. Paul and Leah made a move together to stop him.

He snarled, snapping at both of them when Bella's voice rang out, "No! Let him come."

The Alpha turned towards the other wolves, lip raised, teeth bared in warning.

Seth spoke on behalf of their Alpha, "He just wants you to wait. Bella is in no danger. It would cause him pain-physical pain-to harm her now."

Shípa waited for Seth's leave to move forward. Bella was Seth's mate. Bella must be welcomed to the pack. The human Alpha had done a piss poor job of it. Shípa intended to make amends.

Seth's gaze met his Alpha's, the unspoken request shared effortlessly through their new bond.

The Alpha would greet the new Alpha female, their generation's first marked mate. He would honor the human and her newly-elevated status.

Seth and Bella moved closer to their Alpha, pulling up short in response their pack mates' astonished gasps.

"What now?" Bella demanded in a fit of pique, throwing her hands in the air.

"Look down, Bells, when you take a step," Embry advised her in an awed whisper.

She took a few tentative steps-_heel, toe - heel, toe - heel, toe_-understanding dawning with the last testing step.

She didn't think it would be visible with average human eyesight, but she could just make out what they were seeing; thin thread-like wisps of a gilded vaporous mist swirled up her calves from the ground with every step, every connection made with the land. It was the physical manifestation of what she felt happening with every step she took, the connection to tribal land, to pack.

She noted it was happening to Seth; and Jake's wolf, too, as he padded toward the two of them.

Seth just shrugged, unperturbed._ What was one more weird thing in a day full of weird? _

His laid back attitude made all this new 'weird' easier for her to cope with. If Seth was in this with her, she could deal with anything.

He unfurled the quilt with a flick of his wrist and the innate grace of a Quileute net-fisher. He drew Bella down to sit in his lap, holding her close, one hand resting protectively over their pup.

Shípa came forward, head raised high. He trotted briskly up to the mated pair, bumping Seth's shoulder with his nose congenially before turning to Bella. She sat very still, gaze lowered, and waited for him to finish his thorough inspection. He ran his nose from the crown of her head to her feet, moving around the two of them to complete the proper greeting as he had done earlier with his other human female pack mate.

His nose ghosted over the scarred flesh of her right wrist and he snorted roughly, scrabbling backward in shocked anger. The scent was vile, but on his pregnant human Alpha female pack mate, it was unacceptable! Shípa approached her again, wary, prodding and growling menacingly at the scent trapped beneath her skin.

Seth tightened his grip on Bella, reminding himself-reminding Bella-that the spirits would test them, test their faith.

Shípa found himself in a conundrum. _Venom meant Cold One-the plague that had been visited upon his people since the beginning. Cold One meant fight, bite, kill. Isabella was not cold. The venom ... it was **wrong**. It was unnatural. It did not belong. _

The voice of Taha Aki rose to warn Shípa,_ She is pack, pregnant with a pup. She is not cold._

He shook his head, snarling, instincts rattling his cage, his dedication to protecting pack,_ She is pale! The venom poisons her and the pup!_

_But she is not cold. She is not the enemy. Not every problem can be bitten or fucked into submission, Alpha, _Taha Aki reminded him.

_No! The venom must go, to protect the pup, to protect Isabella, _Shípa reasoned.

Taha Aki growled in frustration,_ No! Do nothing now, Alpha. Seek the advice of the shaman, their Old Quil._

Shípa growled at the chief, bristling,_ He is human. What will he do? Pray over it? Shake some toddler's trinkets over it and hope for the best? I do not need the shaman. Nor do I need your permission, Chief. I am Alpha. The pack is mine, the pup and Isabella are my responsibility._

_You never learn! _Taha Aki shouted, but Shípa pushed him away, back through the door to the other side with the rest of the Alpha Chiefs and warrior spirits.

_I am Alpha! You will not question my decisions! _he roared through the portal at the spirits.

Shípa licked lightly over Isabella's scars, testing to gauge her response to touch. Shípa knew some marks could be very sensitive to touch, like the mating mark.

Encouraged, he touch his razor sharp teeth to the scars, just barely abrading the skin.

Isabella's shriek was deafening as Bella's shield crumbled, catapulting Shípa and Seth back in time through her memories, watching the horror of her assault unfold through her eyes at the very apex of the event horizon.

_Bella relived the nightmare, the one she barely survived. James wasn't large, but he was strong, his crusty, dirty hand locked over her mouth and nose in a tight seal as she fought, bucking and scratching futilely under her attacker. His hematite eyes, black with hunger, pierced her, held her terrified gaze in his thrall, forcing her to look into the shark-like eyes of her predator-dead eyes, like a doll's. She was slowly suffocating. The lack of air eventually blocking the stench of his reeking skin and filth-caked nails, the pressure of his hand breaking the capillaries under her skin, brutally bruising her face, cracking her jaw as he tore through the denim of her jeans, crushing her pelvis with the heel of his hand before unbuckling his own pants._

_Bella screamed in terror, bucking, clawing at his arm, her wails of protest muffled by his smothering hand, silent screams going unanswered as she begged in her mind for Edward to help her, willing just once for him to hear her thoughts as tears of terror and shame welled up, spilling over as the strongbox of her mind-the very thing she prided herself on for being stronger than others-finally proved a disadvantage for the first time, a weakness that failed to protect her at the time of her greatest need. Defeat crept in as the pain and asphyxia washed away her consciousness on a wave that eventually overcame her mind, vision graying, carrying away any remaining resistance as she gave up the fight and prayed for death to take her._

Seth and Shípa clawed their way back to the surface as Bella's shield came back up to protect her subconscious mind, the rasping breaths of the three of them loud in the still morning air.

Bella sobbed, whimpering over the arm she clutched to her chest, turned into her mate, begging quietly for him to make it stop.

Taha Wi whispered in Shípa's mind,_ Being Alpha and being right are not always the same thing._

Shípa felt her distress, lived it like it was his own. He hurried to reassure her, nuzzling and rubbing his muzzle over her head and shoulders, down her arms, over her legs. He curled around her and her mate, rumbling a low susurration meant to comfort as he returned time and again to nudge her jaw affectionately with his muzzle.

Seth was furious, but joined the Alpha's efforts, loosing a loud, rumbling purr, his chest vibrating against Bella's back, his arms tightening around her in reassurance.

Long minutes passed as they listened to her panicked breaths and galloping heart beat. Her shield relaxed infinitesimally again and Shípa wormed his way through into her thoughts, echoing the soothing rumble in the pack mind, overwhelming her with love and support. Seth's thoughts joined his efforts. He gave her all his happiest memories-_loving her, laughing with her, making love to her beside their waterfall, the shared joy over their pup._

All at once, it was over, Seth and the Alpha's joint efforts finally breaking through her sobbing pleas, her body going lax in surrender as she clutched her mate like a lifeline.

Paul, Leah, and Embry watched it all in fascination, having unconsciously added their own soothing rumbles to the chorus of lupine concern for Bella.

She took a shaky breath and exhaled quietly in release, her breathing and heart rate slowing down in answer to the pack's nurturing succor, she leaned hesitantly into the Alpha's reassuring touch, nuzzling him in return,_ It's okay. I'm okay now.  
_

Shípa mentally cataloged the injury to her wrist and her state of mind, quietly accessing Isabella's memories of the event while shutting the pack out of his thoughts so she wouldn't have to relive them with him. Shípa knew how broken she was still. Jake knew it, too. He wished he'd known sooner, had been more aware of the needs of his friends and their struggles. His guilt was palpable. He felt like a failure. The hurt of his sister, Isabella, was a scar on his psyche, a hurt he would never be able to forgive himself for.

Shípa carried on, trying to distract her from her near breakdown with the rituals of pack. He moved tentatively at first, snuffling and chuffing happily up and down her other arm, laving his tongue repeatedly over the tiny bite mark left years ago on the base of her thumb on the other hand.

His eyes darkened in recognition.

Hazel's mark.

He was so drawn to it-could barely pull himself away from its ambrosial ginger scent. It was wild and exotic-an inscrutable temptation-and the Alpha wanted it.

_Mine_, he growled, startling Seth and Bella in the pack mind with his proprietary demand.

Seth growled a warning in response, still pissed at his Alpha, angry that he had taken such a decision upon himself. They would have a long discussion about meeting the human needs of the pack later, after Bella slept and recovered from her ordeal.

Shípa circled the pair carefully where they sat twice, like a dog circling to mat down tall grasses before lying down, he created an invisible safe zone for Bella using his hulking body as a shield, but he didn't curl up and take a nap. He returned to stand before the new mates, lowering his massive bulk to the ground, placing his head between his outstretched paws on Bella's crossed legs.

He tilted his head to the side, symbolically baring his neck to her in apology and welcome, closed his eyes, and waited.

Bella was exhausted and bewildered. If there was one thing she'd come to pride herself on since she began her studies, it was her understanding of animal behavior. The Alpha submitting to her in remorse broke every known rule of pack behavior. She wasn't a wolf or a dominant member of the pack.

She looked to Seth for guidance. Despite the connection with her Alpha, she didn't understand some of what he felt, not being a wolf herself.

Seth spoke quietly to her through the pack bond,_ You are the first marked mate in our pack. You're Alpha female. Shípa is setting an example for the pack-showing them how he would have them honor you and making his apology. He is showing them that you are special and that you don't need to fight for your position in the pack. He respects your strength and position, so they must. He is genuinely sorry for hurting you as well._

As Seth finished his explanation, he deliberately lowered his gaze, following his Alpha's precedent, further leading the pack by example.

Bella's eyes widened in awe. She flicked a glance at the other three un-phased wolves. They'd come closer-were only a few feet away now-and all had lowered themselves to their knees, resting back on their heels, eyes downcast.

Bella sat stock-still, honored and humbled, as the pack welcomed her as one of their own.

✫.¸¸ . ✶*¨*. ¸ .✫*¨*.¸¸.✶*¨'*✫

_In Seattle, at a comfortably shabby townhome just off of the U-Dub campus..._

"Taio! Did you eat the rest of that fried chicken Bella made the other night?"

A grunt of assent was the only response from the other room.

"You fat, greedy cockwaffle! I've been up all goddamn night! I was saving that for breakfast! I hope it goes straight to your giant ass and thighs!" the slight, curvy brunette bellowed, the volume of her voice belying her petite stature. She banged cupboard doors and tossed a few pots and pans to work off some temper before stalking to the doorway to glare at the massive, snickering Pacific Islander sprawled across the green suede sectional in the family room.

He held up a drumstick, waving it at her with a grin, spraying crumbs over his chest laughing with his partner in crime, their little brother, Howie, who flashed a toothy grin at her around a face stuffed with his own ill-gotten chicken as he glanced occasionally back at the TV so he wouldn't lose his place in their game.

If Hazel never saw Madden again, she would die a happy girl. She didn't know how Bee could stand it.

She growled and spun on her heel, pacing back to the fridge and wrenching the door open-almost yanking it off its hinges-to see what other options Bella stocked them up on before she left, muttering under her breath, "I hope your chicken chokes _you_ for once, asswipes."

More snickering from the family room.

Hazel hissed.

Fuckers.

She opened the fogged glass door of the industrial fridge, peering inside to see what was left. On the bottom shelf, she found a disposable aluminum pan topped with a cardboard cover with written instructions for reheating her favorite sausage, spinach, and mushroom-stuffed shells along with a little love note from her girl:

_Haze, _

_Didn't want you to miss me too much, so I made your fave casserole and I'm hiding it where the bruddahs won't look. You don't have to share it with Taio if he finished off the chicken. Howie helped me cook the sausage and kept Taio out of the kitchen while I made up meals for a day or two, so he's earned a share, but, for your big brother-__nothing__! Especially if he ate the last piece of the chicken!_

_See you in a few days. Love you. I miss you already._

_Love, _(she made a little heart for the 'o' just like she had since they were kids)

_Bee_

Hazel sighed in regret, knowing Bee wasn't coming back to their apartment anytime soon if things with her hometown honey, Seth, were stepping up to more serious territory. The phone call the previous evening had certainly indicated that was the way the wind was blowing back home for Bee.

Hazel followed the instructions, heating up the last of the goodies Bee made before she bugged out for the long weekend, wondering when she'd see her again. She flipped the oven door shut carelessly with her bare foot and hopped up on the counter, taking advantage of the queen bee's absence to do all the things Bee usually yelled at Hazel and her brothers for doing in her precious kitchen.

Their oldest brother and benevolent benefactor, Nui, had pulled out all the stops retrofitting the kitchen when he heard Bella was going to be moving in with his younger siblings off campus two and a half years ago. Spirits knew his brothers and sister could eat. If Bella was going to feed them (and he knew she would feed them well), he wanted to make it as easy as possible for her, so he built her a kitchen any chef would envy in the comfortable four-bedroom townhome the family owned in Seattle.

Hazel picked at the frayed hem of her cutoffs-Bella's cutoffs, in actuality-and began mentally cataloging the boxes she and her brothers had packed the night before while she waited for dinner to heat up. There wasn't much, really. Bee wasn't particularly acquisitive. Her room held mainly books, clothes, shoes, a big, comfy brown chair and ottoman that she could sprawl out in to while away an afternoon reading, and a scattering of framed photos of Bee with Seth, Hazel, and her own siblings, mostly Taio and Howie. There were some shots in profile of Bee's mysterious friend-slash-annoying-brother Jacob, but he was often in shadow or turned too far away from the camera to get a good look at his face or a feel for his size and build. Seth was a big guy-lean and muscular according to the most recent pictures-and quite a bit younger than he appeared. She'd spoken to him in passing a few times over the years when Bee was Skyping with him.

Bee had no pictures of the other people she frequently mentioned from back home and Haze often wondered why.

She spoke so fondly of the folks back home, but the dearth of pictures seemed really ... odd. She obviously spent a great deal of time with a large group of friends when she went home. Hazel couldn't help but wonder if Bee hadn't told them about her since she'd never met them, that maybe she was ashamed of their unusual relationship. She was certain Seth knew. They didn't talk about it, but Bee made it clear that she needed to be upfront and honest with Seth about Hazel and vice versa, but she still didn't think Bee made it public knowledge at home. Bee's dad Charlie had been red-faced and obviously uncomfortable during his one and only visit to their place in Seattle the previous Christmas when he'd caught Bee kissing Hazel under the mistletoe with gusto.

And hands. Lots of roaming hands under that mistletoe.

Well, no one else had to know. It was their business, just the two of them ... and Seth. Seth knew, she was relieved at that. She'd find out more about the rest of Bee's mysteries soon enough, she supposed. After the phone call she got tonight, there was no reason not to take a road trip out to La Push to meet this Elder Ateara guy who wanted to interview her for the remaining forestry service and resource management position that was available on the rez. She'd be doing what she loved, working alongside Bee, and she'd get to meet all the other people her bestie loved back home in La Push and in Forks.

In fact, she decided, turning the idea over in her head a few times, there was no reason not to load up Bee's stuff today-along with some camping and surfing gear-to go meet Mr. Ateara and have a nice long visit with Bee while she checked out the rez to see if it was the kind of place she could put down roots for a while.

✫.¸¸ . ✶*¨*. ¸ .✫*¨*.¸¸.✶*¨'*✫

"Jake?" Bella inquired, stroking the big reddish-brown wolf's overlarge ear as he lay across her lap. She was still a little shaky, struggling to keep up with her first real meeting with the Alpha. Things seemed like they were on a more even keel now, so she felt brave enough to speak up, "Can you phase back, sunshine?"

The wolf under her hand pulled his lip back testily in silent reproach. He did not care for her nickname for the human Alpha-'sunshine'.

Bella heard his thoughts through the pack bond. She rolled her eyes and hid her tiny ghost of a smile, but tempered her sarcasm, "Sorry. Will Jake be coming back to us anytime soon, Shípa?"

"He had a long night, Bells. Maybe-" Embry bit his lip uncertainly.

"Go on, Emb. What?" she asked.

"He had a lot thrown at him all at once last night with all the tribe's memories. He might need to rest and hunt before he can phase back," Emb suggested.

The Alpha closed his eyes and snuggled closer to Bella, running his muzzle languidly over the gentle swell of her belly, wallowing in the creamy scent of pack pup. His great barrel chest rumbled with pleasure as he turned to his other side to rub his scent glands across the laps of his Beta and Isabella.

Seth tolerated the Alpha's behavior. This bonding had nothing to do with Jake's obsession with Bella and everything to do with the Alpha's instincts to protect their pup, his pleasure at welcoming the first of them to the pack. Scent-marking himself and Bella would soothe the Alpha's distress-and thereby the pack's as well-over the upset he had caused Bella earlier, too.

Unfortunately, rolling over placed the Alpha's nose directly into the noxious pool of vampire scent still emitting from Bella's wrist. He growled lowly at it again, using his muzzle to shove the sleeve up out of the way so he could inspect it more closely. It was reddened. The skin looked sore and agitated. With keen eyesight, he saw the faint trace of venom ripple under the skin in response to his proximity.

Bella's breath caught, unsure of what to do, but certain that she didn't want a repeat of his previous attempt to 'help' her.

Shípa looked up at Seth and very carefully stuck just the tip of his huge tongue out, running it lightly from Bella's wrist to her elbow, trying to soothe the hurt he'd caused, the redness that had been there before.

Bella blinked owlishly at him, "Umm ... Shípa?"

Worried she might put a stop to it before he finished caring for her injury, he whimpered, redoubling his efforts, laving the skin quickly with his rough tongue.

She felt compelled to warn him that her arm was still covered in several flaky, dried layers of wolfsauce from Seth marking her all night.

Shípa looked into her eyes in acknowledgement of her concern and carried on, not bothered in the least by the taste of his packmate on her skin.

"Ew," Bella tried not to gag.

She failed.

Seth snickered, then suggested, "Try distracting him from it, babe, so he doesn't focus on it so much. Maybe that's what's stressing him out so he can't phase back."

"Umm ... okay." She ran her fingers up his muzzle, between his ears and down the back of his head. "Umm, my dad said he talked to your dad the other day. Billy told him the twins might both be coming home for the holidays. Won't it be great to have Rebecca and Rachel back home for a wee-"

Paul-human Paul-loosed a ferocious snarl, rolling back and rising fluidly to his feet in a mercurial move that only a wolf could manage. His eyes briefly flashed gold, his face livid with anger as he turned from the gathered group to pace the yard back and forth, hands shaking as he tried to suppress the urge to phase.

Bella jumped, startled by the savage roar.

Shípa twisted his head to stare Paul down, yipping a sharp reprimand at his agitated pack mate, tugging him back into rank and file with a painless jerk of the invisible tether that connected the Alpha to each member of his pack.

"Paul-" Bella began.

"Not now, Bella," he ground out, wrapping his arms around himself in a gesture she recognized all too well. Bella watched him with keen interest until he became aware of her staring, deliberately dropping his hands to his sides and returning to sit with Embry and Leah.

Leah, having been woken in the middle of the night and dragged out to the woods on very little sleep, was sitting cross-legged in the grass, elbows on her knees, chin propped in her hands as she began to nod off. Embry waited until her eyes had been closed for a few minutes, then gave her a gentle shove, intending to guide her fall towards the quilt. Paul reached out deftly and caught her instead, drawing her head down to rest on his own leg. She whimpered a bit, turning over and shuffling into a more comfortable position with her head nestled into his hip. He ran a calming hand down her arm from shoulder to elbow.

Embry watched with rapt attention, expecting Leah to wake at any moment and rip his arm off, but she never stirred except to burrow deeper into Paul's warmth.

It was so uncharacteristic of Leah, that vulnerability, even in sleep. Embry turned his gaze on Shípa, wondering to himself if the Alpha had done that-manipulated Leah to move somehow-to distract Paul.

Shípa dipped his head subtly in acknowledgement.

Embry smiled, tucking his chin into his chest to hide it from Paul.

The Alpha returned his attention to his pregnant pack mate, turning his head again into the welcoming scent permeating her other hand, the one that smelled so good. He licked at it, again and again. He couldn't get enough. He wondered _why_ it smelled so good.

Bella thought for his benefit,_ You like that, huh? That's Hazel. She smells great, doesn't she?_

Bella let her mind drift to memories of making love to Hazel early one morning last week, wrapped up in each other, licking, kissing, and nipping, leaving little teeth marks on each other to be soothed away with lingering kisses and gentle caresses later.

He rumbled his agreement, practically purring in contentment. He thought he'd like to meet the Hazel from Isabella's memories. He was almost certain he could talk Hazel into marking Sam and Emily's dining room table with him. She seemed like a good sport-rough and ready-not too concerned about what others thought of her to enjoy herself.

The imprint, Emily, would shit bricks if he fucked Hazel on her table. It would put the self-righteous little imprint off her feed for a week or more.

His tongue slipped out the side of his mouth in a wolfy grin.

Shípa imagined himself in the human Alpha's form, bending the curvaceous brunette beauty, Hazel, over Emily's precious table-one firm hand on her hip to hold her in place while he mounted her, the other grasping a lush bronzed tit as he rode her hard, biting at her throat, mercilessly slamming his hips into the soft cushion of her perfect, plump ass as she squeezed him with her dripping, greedy cunt. Hazel appeared to be a sturdy girl. What he wouldn't give to bite her while she wailed her pleasure and came all over the human's hard cock.

The notion of biting her overwhelmed him. He couldn't resist that scent, not a moment longer. He pressed his teeth into the flesh of Bella's hand, right over the tangy ginger scent of Hazel's claiming mark and nipped, all four canine teeth just barely breaking the surface of Bella's skin.

Bella gasped in surprise, drawing in a rasping breath and closing her eyes as Shípa's claiming mark swept through her omnipresent connection to Hazel and the Alpha tasted for the first time the sweet, spicy flavor of the missing mate he craved like a drug-combined with that of Seth's Isabella.

Seth lurched forward at the sound of the skin breaking, the scent of Bella's blood, as Shípa staked his claim on Hazel.

Chevexo'i surfaced, eyes a steady glowing gold, lip curling in anger at the injury to his mate,_ You selfish bastard! Have you learned nothing?! _

Chevexo'i recognized that the bite wasn't a mating mark or a claim on his Isabella, but the Alpha had bled his mate, his pregnant mate! He had bitten her again!

Shípa lapped at the tiny wound apologetically, sealing it with the healing balm of his saliva as he stared down Isabella's mate, _no apology_ evident in his eyes for Chevexo'i_. _His expression said it all;_I regret nothing._

The two wolves, Shípa and Chevexo'i, refused to back down, each waiting on the other to make a move when Bella's shuttered eyes suddenly snapped open, the shocking coppery glow of her irises an eerie portent that things were changing faster than they all could keep up.

Her lambent eyes intense and focused on a distant point, she whispered, "Hazel... "

✫.¸¸ . ✶*¨*. ¸ .✫*¨*.¸¸.✶*¨'*✫

"Oy! Heathens!" Hazel shouted as she took a seat at the table to dig into her breakfast. "I need to talk to you! Come sit at the table with me and pretend like you're house-broken for five minutes!"

Irritated and grumbling a colorful mix of Hawaiian and Tagalog curses, Hazel's brothers emerged from the family room, brushing off fried chicken crumbs and scattering their mess all over the floor.

She shrugged it off and pretended not to notice. It wasn't her turn to vacuum anyway.

Taio turned his chair backward and settled in, forearms braced on the backrest. "That's what you're eating for breakfast?" he jerked his chin at her plateful of stuffed shells and garlic bread.

"Wha?" she asked, the question muffled as she spoke around a mouthful of pasta. "You fwo ate fwied shicken fo' bwefetht."

"Chicken is protein, like bacon. Same thing. Pasta for breakfast is just wrong," he shook his head scornfully.

"Fut up. I don' commen' on yo' bwefetht," she jabbed her fork at him, then muttered under her breath, "judgy ath-hole."

Howie sniggered 'til Taio kicked him under the table.

"Did you _need_ something, or did you just wanna start your day by being a pain in my ass?" Taio demanded.

"Mm ... yeah. I-" she swallowed the mouthful she was working on, "I was thinking about driving out to La Push tomorrow to surprise Bee. She needs her stuff sooner rather than later and that Elder Ateara guy seemed pretty eager for me to come out to the rez for an interview. It's only like a four hour drive or something. I'm fine driving that on my own. I just gave the Jeep a tune-up the other day after I changed the oil in Bee's truck. It's more than up for the trip even with the trailer. I can head out there early, be there before lunch, no problem-"

"No. You know Nui's rules. Where you go, we go, especially if you're going to see Little Bait. That girl could find trouble in a padded room," Taio smirked, knowing how right he was about their other lil' sis.

"Stop calling her 'bait'!" she growled before continuing in a more pacifying tone, "I'm sure she's perfectly safe at home. You know she's got- OH!" Hazel gasped and dropped her fork, clutching at the throbbing ache in her hand, just below her thumb over her scars. Her eyes went wide, pupils blown, then fluttered closed as she absorbed the ache. Her brothers stiffened in their seats across the table. Her breathing grew labored for a few minutes as she was overcome with something ... something unfathomable and extraordinary, caught up in a swirl of emotions not her own.

When her breathing slowed and the intense emotions ebbed away on the tail of deliberate, calming breaths, she opened her eyes. Her brothers' faces reflected back a disbelieving fascination as they stared at her, wide-eyed and unblinking.

"What?" she demanded, still a little shaky from the onslaught of unexpected emotion.

"Haze... " Taio breathed. "What just happened?"

She shook her head, confused, "I don't know. Something with Bee, maybe, like what happened yesterday before I called to check on her. Why?"

"Your eyes... " Howie whispered reverently.

"What. About. My. Eyes?" she bit out the words, suddenly feeling unreasonably out of control and aggressive, her body beginning to shake in anger.

Taio snatched up a shiny pot from the counter near the table, holding it for Hazel to look at herself.

She tilted it back and forth, the image distorted slightly, but not enough to hide the piercing stirling silver of her glowing irises.

Taio murmured, "Does anyone else get the feeling we shouldn't wait 'til tomorrow to go find Bee?"

✫.¸¸ . ✶*¨*. ¸ .✫*¨*.¸¸.✶*¨'*✫

**Endnote:**_ Judging by the tepid response to the previous chapter of YMO, you guys either really detest the Cullens, the Volturi, all vampires, chapters without wolves, chapters without lemons, chapters without eye candy, or any sort of conflict. I'm still a relatively new fan fic writer, so I have no idea what butters your bread, people! Talk to me! Let me know what you thought of this update in the reviews, then go vote in the Fandom Choice Awards! Remember, the link can be found on my FFn profile if you need it! _the fandom choice awards dot blogspot dot com


	12. Ch 13 - The Rise of an Alpha

**A/N:** I got some feedback on the last update from a few readers-not a lot mind, but enough that I feel like I need to address one particular issue: Hazel, Bella and femme slash. I don't necessarily think of myself as a femme slash writer, BUT I did give warning before I began on the main group page for this fic on Tricky Raven:

_"A note about the characters: This Bella is marked, so her wolf is very secure and sure of her love and commitment. She'll never have any pups but his due to the nature of my marking mythos, and at the end of the day, they'll always be together. There are no jealousy issues between them because the marking is so final, so if you have some kinky, smutty, three-way ideas you want to lob at the storyboard, too, to see what sticks, have at it. If it sparks my creative juices, maybe I'll write it. I do love me some smut."_

I write smut. I love smut. I'm open to all sorts of smut and this fic could very well drift into some slashy territory because I think pretty much all smut is hot smut, so let's make a deal. From this point on, you trust me to bring Seth and Bella together and Hazel to her mate and I promise to give warning at the top of chapters so you can skim it or skip it if it's not to your taste. The relationship between Hazel and Bella is unnamable. Closer than sisters, sometimes lovers, best friends with bennies. It may end up being a source of conflict between Hazel and Shípa since he's being a whole sack full of dicks right now. There's a good chance of that because I [heart] conflict! Good old, lovable Jake will be back sooner or later, not to worry!

**Pre-Readers:** madmamabear and SparklingFae

**Beta:** madmamabear and CayStar

All three of these lovely ladies—SparklingFae, madmamabear, and CayStar—have also been nominated in the FCAs! Please take the time to check out their work if you haven't already and consider voting for them and their stories as well!

Have you begun reading Dragonfly76's original work of fiction, the novella "Nobody's Angel" on Tricky Raven? I'm beta-ing the story for her and it's _really_ getting good! It's a WIP about a farm hand, Cash, who reads Dante; and the independent, free spirit, Jenna, who caught Cash's eye at the local watering hole.

**Banner Made By Mist**

**Rating**: MA, strong language, definitely some adult discussions, and more discomfiting Alpha chat than you can shake a stick at…

"_Do remember, though, that sometimes the people you oppress become mightier than you would like._" ― Veronica Roth, _Insurgent_

✫.¸¸ . ✶*¨*. ¸ .✫*¨*.¸¸.✶*¨'*✫

**Chapter 13 - The Rise of an Alpha**

✫.¸¸ . ✶*¨*. ¸ .✫*¨*.¸¸.✶*¨'*✫

"Embry!" Seth barked, rising to his feet.

Embry rushed to his side.

Seth made as if to hand Bella over to him, "Take her into the kitchen, see to that bite. Make sure it's healing." He kissed her forehead, trying to ignore the dazed look in her eyes and the exhausted, sleepy murmuring for Hazel. Embry took Bella, wrapping his arms around her securely and whispering reassuringly in her ear as he moved to carry out Seth's orders.

"Paul, you should take my sister in, too. I need to speak to our Alpha. **Alone.**"

His brothers took the girls inside and Seth faced off with Shípa.

"Phase back," Seth demanded, his lip lifting involuntarily in a menacing show of tightly-clenched teeth.

_**The Alpha does not answer to anyone, young warrior**_, Shípa scoffed. _**This is my preferred form. If you wish to speak, it will be in this body.**_

Seth sneered, hissing venomously at his leader, "I have no interest in talking to you, much less like civilized men because you clearly _aren't_ one. I just told _them_ that. I want you to phase back so that when I beat you to death and tear you limb from limb―when Charlie Swan comes to clean up the pieces of his best friend's son―no one needs to blame it on a _bear_ this time."

Shípa's eyes rounded in outrage, his lip curling in warning, _**You don't mean that**_, then growled, _**I am Alpha. You are Beta, an honored position. Stand down. You have no hope of besting me in a physical challenge.**_

_He may not,_ Chevexo'i interjected, _but I am willing to take my chances if it means unseating an unfit leader. The others will support me._

_**They wouldn't dare!**_ Shípa roared.

_You have gone too far. You take too much for granted. You don't __**own**_ _us! We don't exist to serve you and tribe without question! Oppressors the world over eventually all come to the same realization when their people turn on them, Shípa, something you fail to understand yet again in this time―__**when you live by the sword, you should expect to die by the sword as well**_, Chevexo'i thundered before he leapt at Shípa's crouched form, phasing mid-air as only Alphas can.

Shípa would not be cowed. He was no pup to be put in his place! He coiled his body and launched his considerable mass in a full-on assault at his Beta, behemoth lupine bodies clashing in mid-air, roaring, tearing at one-anothers' flesh—an ear torn, a tail bitten—as they gnashed and bit, ramming ribs and snapping at limbs.

Bella's eyes snapped open gasping in agony, raking her clawed hands down Embry's arms as he tried to tend to the puncture wounds on her hand, "Stop, make them- Embry! They can't-"

Another pained shriek ripped from her throat by some unseen force startling a dozing Leah awake in Paul's arms. Her eyes snapped up to his in surprise at their position and he pulled her tighter to his chest, loathe to let her go now that he had his arms around her. Her eyes dipped once in understanding, but she shifted in his grip, making it clear she intended to stand on her own. He put her down, but didn't release her, instead wrapping his arms around her waist from behind protectively. Leah leaned into him, taking the offered comfort like a lifeline—the first comforting touch she hadn't shied away from in longer than she could remember—as they watched Bella come out of her stupor.

Bella's eyes brightening once more to that unnaturally glowing copper, she felt the quickening—the first ripple of power from the bond with spirits and land—as she struggled against Embry's brawny embrace, speaking to her pack mate, shocking him with her use of the Alpha tone he well recognized, "**Embry, put me down. Now.**"

Embry's arms dropped without conscious volition, righting Bella and placing her carefully on her feet. She canted her head to one side in lupine fashion, her intense gaze taking in her other pack mates—their eyes all drawn obediently to the floor, throats deferentially bared to her. She took her opportunity while they were temporarily subdued by the order and bolted for the back door, throwing it open and racing to the railing.

Shípa and Chevexo'i were tearing each other apart, neither having the upper hand, it seemed the goal was to wear down the opponent and go for his throat when he collapsed. Bella's terror was palpable. This could not happen. It would tear their pack apart!

"Seth, Jacob!" she shook her head, forgetting who she spoke to, "**Shípa! Chevexo'i! STOP!"** she ordered on a keening sob, inadvertently throwing her shield between them as well.

The air stilled as did the two combatants, separated by the unnecessary shield, compelled to bend to the will of the Alpha female's voice issuing its first order.

They drew apart, panting, pacing the invisible line of the shield like caged predators stalking a kill until Bella ordered them to relax. Shípa fought the order, but the Alpha female's word was unbreakable and he had become unstable. She had taken his pack.

She was angry with both of them for fighting over her like a favorite toy knowing what this could have done to the pack. "If you two are about done measuring your dicks, we have more important things to take care of. Phase back," she growled angrily. She didn't make it an order.

She waited, resisting the urge to tap her foot in impatience.

Seth phased out where he stood, rising up to his back legs as the transformation swept over him, panting, his hands on his knees. He looked up at Shípa, rasping out the words that needed to be said—understood—before he could walk away, pitch black diopside eyes piercing the Alpha, flashing to lambent gold with the promise of more violence, "Never again. Never again without her permission or, so help me, I will kill you with my bare hands and no Alpha order will stop me again."

Tears burned the corners of her eyes and nose and Bella's breath hitched with heart-wrenching awareness—Chevexo'i had understood about the claiming bite and what it meant. Seth, the man, was still fighting a battle for her that ended in a dance studio in Phoenix three and a half years earlier.

Shípa inclined his head in silent apology, still proud, but no less defiant than before. Bella felt regret directed at her for his thoughtlessness.

Seth stood, tall and equally proud, covered in mud and healing wounds as he looked at his mate with a smirk of pride for her new-found strength, "That's some trick, Bells."

Paul, Leah, and Embry were ranged in a loose semi-circle behind her, arms at their sides, fists clenched, warriors at battle-ready attention to defend the female Alpha.

Seth approached her wearily, resting his elbows on the deck rail and wrapping his arms around her back as he looked up into the cooling glow of her glimmering sunstone eyes—wolf eyes—unlike anything he'd ever seen before, and asked, "Are you okay? I- I heard you cry out. I didn't think—in a fight—I didn't realize you would feel it."

"I think it's because you're both pack. It- it ached, throbbed, like I was being crushed. It was awful," she admitted with a whimper, wrapping her hands behind his head to pull it into her belly.

He closed his eyes in shame, nuzzling her warm skin, taking comfort from her restorative touch. He was no better than Shípa, hurting her with his mindless fury for the male Alpha.

"How's the bite?" he asked, tearing himself away from her soothing embrace briefly to brush careful fingertips over the healing pink skin of her thumb.

"It's fine, but when you told Embry to make sure it was healing, I wish you had specified that he wasn't required to lick it to force it to heal faster. I've had just about enough wolf mouths on me today for one lifetime," she said teasingly, smiling a little, and he knew he was forgiven.

✫.¸¸ . ✶*¨*. ¸ .✫*¨*.¸¸.✶*¨'*✫

Seth and Bella sat at the kitchen table a bit later with Embry and Leah while Paul ran over to the Blacks' place to check on Billy and help him get ready for the day.

Embry and Leah observed the new mates quietly while Seth held Bella's wrist, examining the reddened skin around the silvery scarring of her old leech bite. He sighed, "Bells, I think we need to have Mom take a look at this—and your other marks—to make sure everything's okay and there's no risk of infection. You're healing well enough, with the exception of the swelling and redness around the old vamp bite. I really don't want to take any chances, though. Maybe we should talk to Old Quil, too."

He cocked an ear, listening as Shípa weighed in on the decision. Bella heard him, as well.

_Isabella needs medical care_—_**not the shaman**__, _he sneered. _The cold ones' mark is agitated. There is a trace of venom beneath the skin. It responds when we move too near it. I grow concerned for the safety of the pup. Options to remove the scarred tissue should be considered._

Bella's heart stuttered, her hand dropping protectively to the slight swell of her abdomen. She caught herself and cast a sidelong glance at Embry and Leah, hoping they wouldn't notice the attention she, Seth, and the Alpha were paying to her belly this morning. They couldn't share the pack mind when they were phased out the way that Seth and Bella could, so they remained in the dark about the pup for the time being.

Shaking herself back to attention, she agreed without hesitation that the pup's welfare should come first and conceded to a clinic visit with Sue as soon as it could be arranged.

Seth sent his mom a brief text, explaining only that Bella's scar tissue was bothering her and asking her to meet them at the clinic instead of the house in about an hour.

They would tell her about the pup in person.

Bella laid a hand on Seth's, glancing outside at Shípa reclining majestically next to Seth's old swing set, _I need to talk to him_—_about the claim he's laid on Hazel, the pup, phasing back, Jake… So many things have happened._

Seth looked over Bella's shoulder through the sliding glass door to the back yard where the Alpha lay curled up mostly out of sight behind the garage. His tail flicked back and forth, brushing the long blades of grass below the swings with each pass. He still hadn't phased back. That worried Seth—that Jake seemed totally absent and unable to return to his human form. He wasn't absolutely certain he could trust Shípa with his mate after his show of poor decision-making earlier.

"He stopped trying to hurt you the second the order left my mouth and I have the shield, as well. I'll be perfectly safe," she assured him, rubbing a palliative hand up and down his arm, cupping his cheek with the other.

Her assurances seemed premature, however, when the Alpha started snapping and growling a moment later.

Seth rolled his eyes and stood, turning his attention to the Alpha again, "Now what?"

Bella grabbed his arm, her eyes flashing brightly momentarily as she tuned into Shípa's thoughts, _No. Give him a moment. Taha Aki and Ephraim are having words with him. He's not happy, but neither are the two chiefs._

They stepped out on the deck together while the others waited respectfully inside, giving them their privacy. She tipped her face up to Seth's in the cool misting rain, wrapping her arms around his waist while they waited for the spirits to rein in their wily Alpha who continued to bark and snarl at visions only he could see. Bella shared her thoughts with Seth, blocking out the Alpha's racket with her shield, _I have a sneaking suspicion about what is coming from the spirits. Jake has fought his wolf's physical needs for my sake for a very long time and the Alpha has ignored the needs of Jake's pack and his tribe because he thought Jake was weak for not taking what he wanted and, himself, became focused on gaining me for Jake. The wolf pushed Jake for their physical needs and Jake pushed back for their emotional needs, to protect his best friend. This battle has been raging for a long time. It's a wonder Jake was strong enough to protect me until I had your mark. I think the spirits are schooling a rogue Alpha. Jake and his wolf are in for a rough ride._

_Do you think we'll ever get __**our **__Jake back?_ Seth wondered.

_When it's time, yes_, she said assuredly, tightening her hold on her mate's waist.

_Time for what?_ Seth studied her face, waiting for an answer.

Bella wouldn't say, instead turning her lambent gaze on the Alpha and inquiring, _May I have a moment of your time, Shípa?_

_My time is always yours, first and foremost, Isabella. You are Alpha female_, he answered politely, stretching languorously, shaking off the intensity of his discussion with the spirits.

_Hmm … so you've said. What about Leah? _

_Chevex'ia wears no mating mark. Besides, her future does not lie within this tribe or this pack_, he answered honestly, tail swishing peacefully as he settled down once more in the matted grasses of his chosen spot.

_No?_

The Alpha would not be moved to say more on that matter, though.

_What about Hazel? Do you know where her future lies?_ Bella watched his eyes for the signs of truth.

His earnest, unblinking gaze met hers straight on as he answered, shaking out his fur, _I do not know every detail of her future plans, but I recognize her scent as that of mate if she will have the human Alpha. I know her through your memories and hers. That is how I know she is mate as well. Her memories come to me as do those of the rest of the tribe. She is of strong character. She has much in common with the human Alpha. She is strong, a fierce opponent. She was born to be Alpha. She will make strong pups_—_litters of pups_—_the way an Alpha's mate should. She is also a very … sensual being._ He rumbled with pleasure.

Bella moved to sit beside the Alpha in the tall grass, folding her legs comfortably, brushing against his flank, _And if that isn't what she wants? I know her very well and settling down_—_with a man_—_is not something she has ever considered a priority, no matter how amazing the sex will be. She has many brothers and is often surrounded by men to the point of being overwhelmed. You will have to tread carefully there with her_—_you __**and**_ _Jake._

_As her mate, we will compromise, be what she needs. She will come to want similar things. The mating mark will change her, make her want things she does not yet know she longs for. The longing already exists. The marking will only make her more aware of it._ He shifted to rub his muzzle along her arm. _We have seen your memories of her and hers of you, making love in the way of women. If __**that**_ _is what she wants, we will not stand in her way. It is good that she loves someone so selflessly and whole-heartedly as she loves you. If it must be someone other than us, we are glad it is you._

_She may come to visit soon, when we tell her about the pup_, Bella informed him, looking for his reaction.

_That is well. We would meet her then, if there is time during your visit with her_, he replied politely, not wanting to step on the toes of the pregnant Alpha female's time with the woman who was to her sister, lover, and friend.

She rubbed her fingers absently up the bridge of his nose as they sat in companionable outward silence, _What can you tell me about the pup? Do you know anything? Have the spirits mentioned it?_

_They are concerned, as we are. The venom is an unknown. Your health is vital to the welfare of the pack now. We would accompany you and your young warrior to the clinic, but … there is a problem._

_What's that?_ she asked, idly drawing her fingers through the fur of his withers.

_Phasing human_, he bit out the words resentfully.

_You can't phase out yet?_ she worried.

He laughed darkly, _Oh, we can phase just fine. The spirits have seen fit to … discipline us_—_me. Just me. They say I am the one with a lesson to learn. The human Alpha_—_your Jacob_—_he has pleased them by not letting me have my way, by being an obstacle to the things I wanted before you carried your mate's mark. They say I have forced him to ignore the needs of his pack and focused too much on a female who was not meant for me_—_us._

_You mean me, don't you? _She pressed her lips together firmly, torn between wanting to comfort him and feeling like it was right that he had to earn his place in the pack, prove he was worthy of being the Alpha spirit Jake shared his body with.

Shípa looked into her eyes and she saw the truth. He had truly loved her, but she knew he was confused by the scent of Hazel's childhood bite which had imbued Bella all these years. She shared these thoughts with Shípa as well. He conceded that perhaps he had been hasty and it wasn't a bad thing that Jake had such control over their connection at the time. He was still resentful of that heavy-handed control—ached to rebel against it, to be the Alpha he was meant to be.

She stroked and petted him, soothing the wolf's need to bite, kill, fuck to get his way. He'd lacked a guiding hand for so long. She would show him better ways.

Something occurred to Bella then, _Wait … So you can't phase back? That punishes Jake as well, though_, she thought indignantly. _He's a student. He takes college courses in Port Angeles. His grades will suffer! It's wrong to punish Jake for your actions if he fought you every step of the way._

_No, you misunderstand, Isabella. I __**can**_ _phase back, but when I do,_ he growled, his lip curling menacingly, _when I do, the human Alpha's consciousness will remain with the wolf form for the time being and mine will remain in the human's form._

_The spirits are pulling a Freaky Friday on you?_ she tried not to laugh. It really wasn't funny. There was no way Shípa would be able to blend in to Jake's lectures with the other students at school. He would have to get a medical excuse from Sue and withdraw for the semester. She would take care of that for him first thing Tuesday after the holiday weekend came to an end.

_I don't know what Freaky Friday means_- his words cut off as she shared her memories of the movie with him. His mind tone sounded resigned. _Hmm... yes. I suppose that is what the spirits are doing until I show I've learned my lesson and learned to respect Jacob's position in the tribe and pack, and among his pack mates._

_Relax. You make it sound like a death sentence_, she nudged his shoulder. _It won't be forever and I'll help. I'm Alpha now, too. I think that means it's my job to help you. Besides, I need my Jacob back. Mine, the one who's my best friend who will love the girl I've always known was meant for him. Hazel is perfect for Jacob, don't you think? _she asked with a twinkle in her eye.

_Gossip_, he barked at her, amused.

_Grouchy old goat!_ she tossed back, messing up his fur.

_I am thousands of years old, Isabella. I'm entitled to be a little put out, _he sulked, buffeting her with his muzzle in mild rebuke. _I am being treated like a petulant child._

_Then stop acting like one_, she retorted, crossing her arms and raising her eyebrows in challenge.

The Alpha glared back at her. _Your Jacob isn't the precious golden boy you all think, you know_, he said snidely.

_Are you __**jealous**__? Of Jacob?_ Bella demanded, her eyebrows winged up even higher.

_What?! No. It's just … quite unfair! The spirit-chiefs act like he can do no wrong_—_the golden boy who puts everyone else's needs first and never puts a foot wrong. Hmph! Well, he's not perfect, _the Alpha sneered. _Do you know he thinks about women who are not his mate when he masturbates?_

_Shípa!_ Bella barked a mortified laugh. She gasped for air, bellowing with laughter and clutching at her ribs before she tempered it and got herself under control, continuing to giggle aloud behind a muffling hand as she answered his shocking question with as much seriousness as she could muster, _No, I didn't know that, but he's a teenage boy. They all do that. It's the way they're made. Wolf boys more than most, I imagine. It's all those surging hormones that come with the phase._

She held up a staying hand. _And no I don't want to know __**who**__. That's private._

_How can it be private? _the Alpha blustered. _He pounds it so much, It's going to get chapped and raw, and eventually fall off if he's not careful. And then what will the other wolves think of us? One of our pack brothers will surely notice it then._

Bella couldn't help but laugh.

✫.¸¸ . ✶*¨*. ¸ .✫*¨*.¸¸.✶*¨'*✫

Endy note: Howdy! So, I thought _this_ was Hazel's chapter. I was wrong again. I'm an asshole. Don't believe a word I say.

-}o{-

Did you vote yet? I'm all nominated-y! Go vote! Here: thefandomchoiceawards dot blogspot dot com slash p slash nominees dot html

If you haven't yet, you should also go check out my entries for the Tricky Raven Holiday Contest for Authors and Artists. I've entered a sweet and sentimental Paul/Bella pairing called "Holidaze" as well as a super smutty, holiday-themed poly pairing of Jacob/Bella/Embry/Leah that is narrated from Paul's perspective called "Little Red & Her Big Bad Wolves: A Party of Four". It'll get your blood pumpin'. Both are available to read on my FFn profile page or in the Tricky Raven Holiday Contest for Authors and Artists group, linked on Tricky Raven's main page.

Update: December 22, 2013:

I literally just found out that I'm nominated in the **Fanfic-n-tastic Awards Twilight Edition** for **Best Alternate Universe, Best Kiss, Hottest Lemon, **and** Most Alpha-Worthy Wolf!**

******Voting is NOW OPEN in the ****Fanfic-n-tastic Awards Twilight Edition**! If you haven't yet, please visit the Fanfic-n-tastic Awards Twilight Edition page and cast your votes for your favorite Twilight fics! The link can be found on my profile!******  
**

**Fanfic-n-tastic Awards Twilight Edition Voting Page **


End file.
